Support Kim's Battle with Colon Cancer

September 28th I woke up with pain in my lower left side, it progressively got worse throughout the day and finally made my way to the ER by this time I was in excruciating pain and throwing up. Several tests and hours later they determine I have diverticulitis causing a tear in my bowel. Since I have a bleeding disorder the surgeon didn’t feel comfortable doing the repair in Watertown and so they began looking for other hospitals to take my surgery as well as transport. Fast forward to a few hours later, now going into septic shock from the wait, the surgeon decided I won’t make transport and the surgery needs to be done ASAP. Rolling into the OR my family was told to kiss me goodbye as they were going to do what they could but it didn’t look good. Surgery was a success, leaving me with a ostomy so I could heal but while inside they felt a mass and removed it for pathology. On October 2nd we were informed the mass was cancer and have now been told the original diagnosis of diverticulitis with sepsis was actually cancer that had perforated my bowel causing sepsis.

We found out it was stage 2 colon cancer on October 23rd. While typically stage 2 they just watch, cancer spilled into my body and would need treatment. While waiting to get through to the cancer board to determine the treatment plan we had/have another set back. I have fluid in my right lung and the oncologist doesn’t feel comfortable proceeding with treatment until we determine the cause or find that the fluid has dissipated. IF the fluid is still there, I will need to see a pulmonologist and go from there. At this point I’m not expecting to start treatment until the new year and cannot go back to work without being cleared.