I haven't been posting online much. This has been a difficult year. On September 17, our 34 year old daughter Kim, passed away from liver failure due the overuse of Tylenol. Kim was a doctor of physical therapy working with severely disabled children. She was at work on Wednesday and was gone on Sunday. She was moved from a local hospital to Mt. Sinai in NYC for a liver transplant but she continued to get worse and she passed. She had had a brain injury in 2009 and worked hard to get back to work. She had some residual effects of the injury including headaches. If anything good comes from this, please be aware that too much Tylenol can kill. I have heard from 7 other people who know someone who has had liver damage or death. We donated Kim's eyes and bone so she will live on in others.
The year started off with my husband battling stage 3 pancreatic cancer. He did 6 months of chemo after whipple surgery and has had three clean scans. While George was in the hospital with an infection from his first infusion, I had a heart attack in his hospital room. I had gone to the hospital the previous Sunday with minor but continued chest discomfort. I was not sweating, no trouble breathing and sent home with a diagnosis of stress. The same thing happened on Thursday morning and I drove myself to the hospital. After sitting with my husband for 2 hours, the pain radiated to my back. They wheeled me down to the ER and the same people were on duty. They sort looked at me as a frequent flyer until the blood work came back indicating a heart attack. I had a catherization done that evening and had a stent put in because of a 100% blockage in the back of my heart. Four days in the hospital and I went home. Two parents with serious cancer and their 34 year old daughter is gone. It doesn't make sense.
On October 4, our 17 year old cat Nora had to be put down. I was very controlled until then. The dam broke and I was hysterical as I called the vet. By the time I got to the vet, I was okay. We made the right decision. She looked so frail on the table. We had Nora cremated and she and Kim will be buried together with my parents.
The next day, my husband was a victim of a massive layoff. He is 64 and most of the people were older. In order to get his severance, he had to sign a long document. He got them to agree to pay half our COBRA until he is 65 but it will still cost us $760 a month. He was with the company 29 years and was consistently one of the top performers. Maybe Kim did some magic up there as she always worried about her Dad's health. He only took 1 month off for the whipple surgery and worked between 8-12 hours a day during treatment. He worked out of the house and worked during infusions at MSK except for the last treatment when he took a nap.
I am trying to look at the bright side. My husband and I are doing well. I will be 9 YEARS out from stage 4 colorectal cancer thanks in part to Dr. Kemeny and the best caregiver ever, my husband. I have two sons and absolutely wonderful friends and family. We had 34 years with our beautiful daughter who impacted many lives in a positive way. And lots of good memories to cherish. She busted my chops after each surgery to get moving. After my first surgery, she signed us up for the Woman's More marathon in Central Park. She ran 13.1 miles and I walked 13.1 miles. She called it physical therapy---I called it parent abuse.
So everyone, please give your kids a BIG HUG!
A Big Hug to All,
Kathy
P.S. A special thank you to CRguy who helped me with Nora's journe and for his caring friendship.