Hi all!
Well, here I am again with another update on Kim's progress. Once again, thank you so much for your support on this journey. It'll be a long one, and, yes, filled with ups and downs, but it's the only journey we will ever think of taking.
It's a very mixed bag this week, mostly not-great, unfortunately, but I won't leave you all on a down note, I promise!
Firstly, Kim's disability application was denied, because apparently, she can work while getting her experimental immunotherapy. Never mind that it's a weekly IV coupled with twice-daily injections and a bagfull of pills. Nope. She can work. So... We're reaching out to our local SSDI lawyers to handle the appeal, and we'll keep you updated.
Then Snowmageddon hit on Friday, and the kids were off school, which meant six people in a two bedroom apartment, snowed in for four days. I really cannot recommend this as a pastime, hobby or living arrangement. But we made it without serious injury!
Another day, another scan, another set of results that we need but wish we didn't have to hear; Kim has growths on her left kidney, heart and brain. The doctors believe they've been lurking for a while, and the immunotherapy has "pissed them off". However, that actually turns out to be more positive than it sounds…
You see, when she started preliminary therapy to boost her system before the immunotherapy began, her markers spiked. Like, a lot. Basically by a factor of 4. This was A Bad Thing. As a result, they moved faster on administering the immunotherapy component after the people running the study signed off on it, and have been monitoring her closely ever since. The early results are pretty amazing. Her markers declined by 1.5 points over the course of a week which is amazing. The doctors are pretty stunned, saying no-one has responded this fast and to this extent in any other component of this trial. They're speculating that the metastases that have recently revealed themselves are basically in the process of dying back, which is why they are showing up now. But it means more scans and more blood tests. Kim is starting to resemble a pin cushion.
Last night, Kim was in the hospital again for tests (wow, really? I hear you say) when they discovered she had strep, which is... well, also not good. While her immune system is now basically at Superman levels, it's mainly preoccupied with the cancer, and steep is a nasty and sorry fighter, so now there's antibiotics thrown into an already overstuffed medicine cabinet, and Kim is even more drained than before.
So... where are we right now..? Well, the house is again on hold because of the weather, which is slowly improving just in time for another system that might repeat its performance next weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to do something by next week, but I'm trying to do it singlehanded right now, since I am not letting Kim wander around in freezing snow for hours at a time. I think that might be unwise... Kim's health situation is not great right now, but as her doctors say, it's way better than most in her situation, which is pretty surprising considering our home life right now.
So... mixed bag, ups and downs... the usual I suppose. Sorry if this diary is utterly unreadable and disjointed, but I'm averaging about 3 hours' sleep a night right now, and I'm a little worn down.
Thanks for reading, and we'll keep you all in the loop. Kim and I send our love and gratitude to everyone!
Until next time…
Callum and Kim