Category: Uncategorized
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Better days – sailing to the Caribbean
Getting ready to leave Hampton, VA During all of our health trials for the last 10.5 years since Kim’s first TBI, I keep coming back to that amazing sailing trip we took when we circumnavigated the Caribbean from 2007-2009 in our 37-foot sailing boat Kikuyu. Daniel was 11 years old when we left and 13…
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Kim’s Vietnam Service Medal
Kim had occasionally talked about the 3 years he spent as a logistics officer in the Navy from 1970-1973, and that his destroyer ship, the US Orleck, had gone into Vietnam on at least 3 occasions to support the war. However, his DD214 service record form does not reflect the medal or his service during…
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Kim passed a modified swallowing test 😊
With the speech therapist Today I am very grateful! Kim passed the swallowing test though the therapist restricted him to a soft, puréed diet. That means that he does not need to have a feeding tube inserted down his throat kim said he did not want. This is a huge step toward process. I fed…
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It helps to be around to advocate
Last night kim said his body was tired of being in bed. So I called the tech and she and the nurse agreed to move him to the chair. We spent quality time this evening since he entered the hospital because he could interact more. He was very alert. I had him practice swallowing his…
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We feared a stroke and it happened !
At Ann Arundel Hospital in Annapolis. His prognosis is not good but still waiting to see if an MRI can done because of the fact that he has a pace maker. The CT scans will tell us better and , also, how he evolves. Yesterday, he seemed much worse since Sunday when he had the…
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After the first week of treatment #5: A Hard Road!
Bay, by Sam Gilliam, Acrylic on canvas Painting displayed in the main entrance of the Weinberg Building We just completed the first week of Kim’s 5th chemotherapy treatment. I was very excited to know that the week was going to shorter – Kim’s oncologist decreased taking Azacytidine from 7 to 5 days. The first two…
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We start treatment #5 today August 1
As we start this new life-sustaining treatment today, I can’t help but feel ‘gloomy, just as the image above. Knowing what’s involved, especially as the week progresses when I literally have to pull Kim out of bed, get him dressed, fed, and into the car when he refuses to do so, is extremely dreadful, stressful,…
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Struggling to Decide whether or not to change Kim’s treatment
Research results above show that on patients for whom other treatments have not worked, and who have the same mutation (IDH2) that Kim has, the drug Enasidenib results in an overall survival (OS) of 6.5 months. This compares to about an OS of 15 months with the current treatment. After the end of the 4th…
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Do cats sense illnesses?
The cat at the Inn we stayed at in Geneva, NY Kim is very fond of dogs and tolerates cats mostly because of how much I love them. I found it very curious that one of the Inn’s cats would not lose sight of him and spent an entire afternoon and night sleeping by his…
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Vacationing in the Finger Lakes
Views of Canandaigua Lake, named ‘Kanandague’ or the ‘chosen spot’ by the Seneca Indians One of our favorite areas to visit is the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. Maria decided to drive to the area after treatment #4 ended and while Kim is still doing fairly well. He enjoys trips and seeing the scenery.…
Cunningham-Ramos AML & Stroke after TBI Journey 