Thank you all once More! I know you are probably getting tired of me saying it, but Kim and I cannot get over the warmth, kindness, generosity and support of this community!
Today, Kim started treatment. It is, as everyone who has been through cancer knows, an important day. Things did not go quite according to plan, and the news wasn't quite what we'd been expecting, but we are still hopeful.
Since beginning treatments for anemia and low white cell count, the cancer has spread. Kim now has confirmed masses in her lung, abdomen, uterus and neck. That it spread so far and so fast was shocking, to say the least. I'm no oncologist, but I think this is a bad thing.
However, her real oncologists are undeterred. They are putting her on a lower-dose chemo that is in a different class for now, to try and prevent any further spread rather than initially trying to beat it down, work more on the anemia and white cell issue, and get her ready for immunotherapy beginning after Christmas. They still have high hopes for winning this thing, and so do we.
There was more of a mixed bag of news; after seeing this diary by Leslie Salzillo this morning, we asked if Kim was a candidate. Incredibly, she is, in that her sarcoma is NTRK+ and solid. Unfortunately, with her tendons and bones in such terrible shape, and a floor-level WBC, they're unwilling to consider it at this point. Of course, it seems to be a "weapon of last resort" anyway, and we hope it never comes to it, but it was a blow to know that as things currently stand, its not on the cards for us.
When we got home, while waiting on the school bus, we gathered our thoughts, and I looked at our GoFundMe page and found that we were now over 2/3 of the way to our goal!
So, a mixed bag of news. This is normal, we know. We're quite used to ups and downs, being parents to an autistic child, and so pragmatism wins the day; we're alive. We're breathing. We're winning today, and that's all we need today.
Thank you all, once more, for the unbelievable support and love we have received from you and others online and IRL. I wish we could all meet some day to show how much we appreciate you. (Maybe a first-time trip to NN is in our future? Let's pencil it in for 2020...)
Much love to everyone, we'll hang in there, and I will try to keep everyone updated now and into the future.
With love and gratitude
Callum and Kim
(Our GoFundMe total is now $1074, and we also have a PayPal account under churlygurl <at> gmail.com)