Cunningham-Ramos AML & Stroke after TBI Journey

At the facility’s gym receiving physical therapy

On Monday, Kim’s COVID quarantine was lifted and, because the number of COVID patients went down, he was not moved to another room.

He did not look well at the start of the week partly because of his rapid weight loss – about 20 lbs during the cancer treatment and about 25 lbs since the stroke ( 2.5 months ago.) However, as the week progressed he looked better and was able to do a little bit more of OT and PT therapies.

I sensed that his recovery has reached a plateau and spoke with his oncologist, heart, and GP doctors at John Hopkins as well as with the facility’s floor doctor. They all agreed that Kim needs to continue to recover as much as possible without drastic interventions. This means that, for now, he will have no more cancer treatment, nor blood transfusions, or bone marrow tests. He’s tired most of the time and pushing him for strenuous therapy only gets him agitated and exhausted.

The head of therapy was also very helpful and, when I mentioned that I wanted to bring him home, she also said that going home is be the best decision at this point. He’s coming home under hospice which, if he’s starts improving significantly, can always be revoked.

Under hospice, he will be receiving many benefits, including more care at home. I’ll be hiring people to help me care for him on a daily basis. I’ve also been training to help Kim do his daily exercises which I plan to pass on to the aids helping me to care for him at home.

I’m looking forward to having him home which I am aware could be very challenging. Kim is too aware and not really ready to be placed in a nursing facility, and HOME is where he wants to be. It breaks my heart to see so many lonely patients at the facility and I’m just so grateful to have the health and desire to bring Kim home.