Help Kim kick cancer’s butt

As some of you already know our dear friend Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2023 after a routine mammogram revealed a tumor. She underwent a biopsy here in Abilene which confirmed the diagnosis of HER2- ER+ PR+ breast cancer. During the biopsy in Abilene they also sampled an enlarged lymph node which showed it had not spread to the lymph nodes. However, we all know when you’re diagnosed with any type of cancer you seek a 2nd opinion. Thankfully Kim did just that!

After her diagnosis she met with a surgeon and oncologist at UT Southwestern in Dallas where she underwent a lumpectomy and had a sentinel lymph node biopsy. The pathology from that surgery showed that the margins were not clear from the tumor. This means there was still cancerous cells remaining even after the tumor and extra tissue was removed. The lymph nodes that were removed (the same ones that were biopsied here in Abilene) showed that there was in fact cancer in 2 of those lymph nodes. After this report came back along with her oncotype test (a test that shows if chemotherapy would beneficial) it showed she had a low score of 14. She had to have a second onco test because the first test used the tissue from the sample taken here in Abilene which didn’t get the most aggressive part of the cancer.

Once her onco test came back and showed this low score, Kim’s oncologist in Dallas did not recommend chemotherapy due to the fact that it wouldn’t give her any benefit from killing the cancer and keeping it from returning. Knowing that the cancer was already moving to her lymph nodes she went ahead and seemed a 3rd opinion from MD Anderson in Houston.

After she healed from her lumpectomy surgery she underwent a second surgery in Dallas a few weeks after. She had a breast reduction and her surgical oncologist was also present to remove the remaining cancerous tissue that remained from her original lumpectomy in Dallas. After coming home from her stay in Dallas she developed an infection in the surgical site. This resulted in her making a trip to the emergency room here in Abilene where they sent her home and told her there’s basically nothing they could do for her and to let her Dallas surgeon see her at her appointment in a few days. Kim knew this wasn’t right so she was already in contact with her plastic surgeon who did the reconstruction procedure and after she came home from the Abilene emergency room she had to drive to the emergency room in Dallas (at midnight!) where they admitted her to the hospital. She was admitted and underwent another operation to remove the infection. This has paused the plan to start radiation and hormone blocker therapy. Right now the plan is to heal from this infection and once healed she will begin radiation treatment in Dallas. She will likely be having radiation daily for several weeks.

Medical bills are piling up quickly and so are travel expenses. I’ve created this GoFundMe so that we can help take off some of the burden financially from our dear friend while she fights for her life. Anything you can help with would be greatly appreciated! If you’d rather donate in person please reach out to Kim, Joe or any of her kiddos (Katy, Eric or Brandon.) Thank you all so much for the love and support for Kim and her family during this difficult time! Keep the prayers coming as she still has a long road ahead of her.

We will continue updating as things change. Right now she needs lots of prayers for healing from this awful infection so that she can receive the treatment she needs to finish killing the cancer!