Farewell, Houston — May. 19, 2000
We arrived in Houston on October 11, 1999. Now, just a week over seven months later, the doctors have discharged Kim and we are returning to Sarasota, Florida.
Kim and I are very happy to be going back to the apartment where we were staying before Kim's relapse.
We were happy to get the test results from Kim's bone
marrow biopsy: she remains fully engrafted with 100% of her marrow consistent
with her father's DNA. Most importantly, there is NO
SIGN OF LEUKEMIA!
Kim is looking forward to continued improvement in her health and energy
and is planning to take an active role in raising money for the Fund.
She will have her blood counts checked weekly and we will be making regular
trips back to Houston for check-ups.
Our time in Houston has been very difficult and far longer than we ever planned. Kim has been through hell and not only survived it, but has done so with tremendous style and grace.
We are excited to start the next chapter in this journey
and we are looking forward to be in much closer contact with our friends
and family.
We would like to thank everyone who attending the raffle in New York City.
An especially big thanks to Jennifer Lordi and Amy Mirer for all their
hard work organizing the event. Check out the photos of all the fun on
the image
gallery.
With the money raised at the recent raffle, the Fund has now exceeded $20,000.00. Five medical professionals have accepted our invitation to join the board that will govern the Fund. We will plan the first board meeting to take place during our return visit in three weeks.
Great thanks to everyone for your continued caring and support!
All our love, Brian and Kim
Texas, month six — April 12, 2000
April 11 marks a full six months since our arrival in Houston to prepare for Kim's bone marrow transplant. Tempering that shocking realization is the much happier one that we have now been engaged for six months.
The last few weeks have been slow but positive. The anti-fungal drug that Kim has been taking appears to be working very well.
She has been on a fairly high dose of steroids since her last bout with Graft Versus Host Disease. We are now in the process of tapering the steroids, which can cause all the same nasty little side effects as going on the drug to begin with.
Today, Kim was told to prepare for her next bone marrow biopsy, to be performed early next week. As always, we bite our nails for a few days after the biopsy since the results will tell us whether or not there are any leukemia cells present.
Last week, after a few days of e-mail correspondence, we arranged a meeting with a veteran leukemia physician whom we have admired, to discuss the future of Kim's Fund. For the full story, check out the history of the fund page.
We are excited about tomorrow night's raffle in New York and encourage everyone in the area to attend. There will be some terrific items being raffled including a Texas basket that Kim and I put together. Great thanks to Jenn Lordi, Amy Mirer, and David Lloyd for their work getting everything in order. We will post pictures on the image gallery when they are available.
We had a great visit with our friend, Molly, this past weekend. Seeing a friend from home reminded us of how long it's been since we've seen all of the people we hold dear. We know that it will be at least a few more weeks before we leave Houston, but Kim and I are working hard to get back to everyone.
All our love, Brian and Kim
Still Texans II — March 29, 2000
March has been a month of small setbacks and stalled plans. We are generally optimistic, continuing on the path to recovery at a slower pace than had been our expectation. The doctors have recommended not making any immediate travel arrangements.
We celebrated Kim's 29th birthday on the boardwalk in Kemah, Texas. That night, Kim began complaining of abdominal cramps that became worse the next day. We resisted a late night trip to the ER and reported to the outpatient clinic the following morning. The doctors suspected Graft Versus Host Disease, which Kim has battled in the past. Kim was admitted to the hospital that night for a weeklong stay.
A particularly uncomfortable endoscopic exploration revealed severe GVHD in Kim's stomach, which was successfully treated by high-dose steroids. Kim was discharged with instructions to visit the outpatient clinic daily.
For some weeks before the hospitalization, the doctors had been monitoring what Kim believed to be several ingrown hairs on her left leg. There were three spots that got progressively worse and, after it was clear that something was wrong, the doctors took a biopsy and concluded that there was a fungal infection present. Untreated, a fungal infection can become very serious with the potential to enter the blood stream and then spread to internal organs. Thankfully, Kim's infection was caught very early on, and she has begun a treatment that has proven very effective in similar patients.
We are still very anxious to return to Sarasota, but have resigned ourselves to the fact that that we will stay in Houston for as long as Kim's health requires it. For now, we are concentrating on staying healthy and getting rid of any of the 'bugs' that are postponing our next step in the journey to return to our life in Manhattan.
Last week we were saddened to learn that a Bone Marrow Transplant patient with whom we had become close, a 26-year-old man who transplanted a week before Kim, passed away on March 10. Our friend had battled leukemia for three years. His strength and optimism, his love for living and the incredible love he shared with his wife have continued to be among our greatest inspiration. We are saddened by his passing and angered at the disease that has claimed the lives of several people dear to us.
Kim and I ask that you join us in doubling our effort to raise money and make a difference in the fight to find a cure for leukemia. The first of several fundraisers planned for the spring will be held in New York City next month. We encourage your participation.
Great thanks to everyone for your continued love and support.
All our love, Brian and Kim
There was a good chance that Kim would get discharged today, but the doctors have decided to keep us here in Houston for two more weeks. Kim's platelet and white blood cell counts need to come up a little higher before we will be allowed to return to Florida. We had hoped to spend Kim's birthday (March 4) back in Florida, but our celebration will have to wait a little while longer.
This last month was characterized by low-key recovery. The flu left Kim pretty weak and, in many ways, she had to start at the same level of strength as when she was first released from the hospital. After regaining much of her strength, Kim got hit with a cold — just days after the doctors said we could expect a March 1st discharge. She was placed on antibiotics and told to get as much rest as possible. An additional precautionary bone marrow biopsy was ordered, and we were pleased to find that Kim remains cancer-free.
With luck, our next report will be from Sarasota, Florida.
Contributions to Kim's fund have been coming in steadily and there are several fund-raisers being planned for the spring. The response to the web site has been terrific and we promise to add photos and progress information regularly.
Great thanks to everyone for your continued love and support.
All our love, Brian and Kim
Greetings from Houston. 100 days have passed since Kim's bone marrow transplant. On Day 98, she had her scheduled bone marrow biopsy. We are very happy to report that the initial test results show no signs of leukemia and suggest that her father's bone marrow continues to engraft well.
We did suffer a small setback. Toward the end of January, Kim began showing signs of the flu. As with the flu you may have had this season, beyond getting lots of rest and fluids, there is little that can be done except to wait it out. The doctors explained that, because of Kim's compromised immune system, a flu that would take an otherwise healthy person three days to kick, would take her a week or more.
After more than two weeks of sniffles and aches, Kim woke up this past Tuesday with a fever. Twenty minutes after talking to her doctor on the phone, we arrived at the hospital for a four day, three night stay.
Kim was released on Friday (Day 99). She is quickly regaining much of the energy that she had lost while she was sick. Her illness does mean that our time in Houston will be extended by a few weeks. Regardless, we have begun to pack up many of the things that we have accumulated, in anticipation of our return to Florida.
Kim and I had expected to be in much more regular contact with everyone than has been the case. Strange hours, exhausting hospital visits, and the general healing process have taken up all of our time. Please accept our apologies if we haven't returned your e-mail or phone messages.
To help keep everyone informed and to insure the continued growth of the Kimberly Patterson Leukemia Research Fund, we are proud to, at long last, announce the official launch of http://www.kimsleukemiafund.org
We hope you enjoy it and encourage you to share the site with friends.
Kim and I wish to extend our love and thanks to all for your tremendous caring and support.