Kim Olson - Ovarian Cancer Warrior!

Hi Everyone!

 

A few months before all of our lives changed due to a Global Pandemic, our dear friend Kim Olson was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Imagine dealing with all the inconveniences we've each had to cope with while also processing "I have cancer". What Kim has been dealing with is beyond imaginable. She is the definition of a fighter and resilience. She is a warrior!

 

Kim would never ask for help. She's not one to accept sympathy and would never allow herself to burden anyone's life. So here is our chance to show her how important she is to us. To show Kim we are all supporting her fight. This website is our opportunity to help.

 

With a ton of information from Matt, Kim's ever-supporting rock of a husband, I've been able to pull together a brief (and very simplistic and unemotional) timeline of the physical treatments Kim's been through.

 

Since her diagnosis, Kim has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments at some of our Nation's top facilities. Starting in January 2020, every week, Kim and Matt would drive to Fox Chase in Philadelphia for chemotherapy. And then COVID hit... Now no one is allowed into Fox Chase unless they are a patient, but since Kim is happy with her doctors, she perseveres with her treatments as scheduled. Kim is now driving herself to and from treatments, solo. In May 2020, Kim underwent surgery to remove her tumor and have a complete hysterectomy. While the surgery went off without a hitch, there were some smaller spots the surgeons could not get, which will hopefully be resolved with additional rounds of chemotherapy.

 

Kim continues weekly treatments at Fox Chase from June through November 2020 but then decides to change treatment to Sloan Kettering in NYC in hopes of more aggressive treatment and to try to qualify for a clinical trial. In the time between December 2020 and now, Kim has continued weekly trips (on her own) to a Sloan Kettering facility in Basking Ridge, NJ, a weekly drive of 2.5 hours each way. In addition, she occasionally needs to make an extra trip for other tests and scans. Please keep in mind that Kim has continued to work throughout all of this. Whether from home or her hospital bed or even her treatment chair. In November 2021, Kim was told she would need a kidney stent. She undergoes successful outpatient surgery and is told the stent will need to be replaced, at a minimum, every eight weeks. In early January 2022, Kim was informed she might qualify for a clinical trial in NYC. Kim and Matt travel to Sloan Kettering, where Kim undergoes a battery of tests and the next day, they get the excellent news that Kim has qualified for the trial! However, the bad news is the schedule she'll need to keep for this trial. Kim will be receiving treatment in the hospital for 2-3 days, followed by another 2-3 days of blood testing every week for the next 4 or 5 weeks. There will be a lot of traveling back and forth between her home in Northumberland and NYC. And with all that travel comes a lot of costs: train tickets, meals, Ubers, and overnight stays, to list a few.

 

Like I said before, this website is an opportunity for us to step in and help...by contributing in the cost to provide Kim with the treatments she needs now. We can also help Matt travel to visit her when possible and help with Kim and Matt's dogs, who we all know will miss her tremendously while she's away.

 

Here is a personal message from Matt to everyone:

"From the beginning, we’ve both tried to stay positive and keep things as normal as possible. Kim is unbelievable, as you know, and has undergone more in two years than most people do in a lifetime. Yet, during that time, she has still spent time with friends and family, cooked dinners, cared for the dogs, worked her tail off, gone on vacation, gone out to dinner, etc. I am amazed at how she has handled all that has been thrown at her so far. I know that she would be against this because that’s how she is, but I also know that it will help both of us. I’m thankful that we both have good employment, insurance, and friends and family that are willing to step in and help us out…know that we are very grateful."