Home Again

Thanks so much once again for the prayers and support given to me and my family while I was in the hospital last week. It was such a blessing to be able to come home on Wednesday afternoon--my doctors and the nursing staff at LDS Hospital were just wonderful to me, but home is always best! On Tuesday night, my new gynological oncologist/surgeon (Dr. Dodson) came to see me. At that point I had gone 72 hours without anything to eat or drink (except for a few ice chips) and I was pretty miserable because things weren't progressing. I'd had an NG tube going into my nose & down my throat for two days, but they'd taken that out Tuesday morning (Thank heavens--you don't ever want to know what that's like!) He decided to go ahead and let me start on a few clear liquids with the hope that it might get things working in my stomach, and cause the intestines to unkink themselves. He said it would either work or else he'd see me in the OR. Then he went on to explain what all the possibilities would be if they had to operate. Needless to say, I was pretty discouraged after he left my room, and I began praying in earnest again. Within a couple of hours after having some liquids, things did start to turn around and progressed quickly enough that I could come home the next day.
They're not sure if the problems are caused by scarring of all my innards from the cancer, surgery & chemo treatments, or if there might be some cancer still in the abdomen that is causing the problem. The CT scan didn't show any signs of tumors, but it also only shows cancerous areas that are 1cm in size or larger. Sooo...I am now on a low-fiber diet--I can't have alot of fresh fruits & veggies, nuts and whole grains. (or, as Vern says, basically my same old diet!) Darn! I'd just got so I was really liking all the fresh veggies & could make a pretty good green salad! I had been reading this "anti-cancer" book that listed all sorts of changes we could make in our lives & diets, and had been trying to follow it's recommendations--Dr. Dodson told me to stop--that may have been one of the things that landed me in the hospital! So we're back to white bread & cooked veggies. The plan is for me to still follow up with my oncologist, Dr. Prystas, in mid-July and then see Dr. Dodson in September--unless something else comes up before then. Summer feels like it might finally be here, and I am so wanting to just enjoy it with my family! I pray each day for more time to be here with my family & friends, and am trying to follow Julie B. Beck's counsel to be sure that we take care of the "essential & necessary" things in our day before we get to the "nice-to-do" stuff.
Thank you again for your prayers, love & support--I know those prayers have allowed me to come home instead of going to the OR again this week. Once again, there were many tender mercies that occurred during my week that let me see the Lord's hand in my life--He is awesome!! Love always, Kim

Just a Kink

Kim was admitted to LDS hospital today with what turns out to be a kinked bowel due to scar tissue. Good news - the tests showed no sign of a tumor! The doctors are hoping the kink will remedy itself in the next three days....until then Kim will be forced to take a leisurely break from her abundant activities to get caught up on reading and television while enjoying gourmet ice chips. Things at the Iverson home are completely taken care of, but she says we can all help by keeping her in our prayers.