In Loving Memory: Kim Meyer

My sister had all the signs and symptoms of something being very wrong but was too scared to go to the doctor. She would always say “Well I don’t want to know if it’s Cancer because the minute I found out I would just give up!”

She started having a lot of gas and stomach troubles back in 2005. She would have terrible gas and could not leave the house for long periods because if she had to go to the bathroom…she had to go! We all just figured she was gassy and nobody even thought twice about it really. We did not have Cancer in our family history, so it never even crossed our minds.

She moved to New Mexico in 2008 with her husband and two daughters and started having more symptoms….she became very pale, started losing weight, became depressed and having really bad lower back pain. She chalked the depression up as missing Texas, where we are from, the dry air for the paleness & she had decided to start eating better when she moved….the weight loss.

In July of 2008, she woke up with severe cramps in her stomach…thinking it was just gas and not wanting to wake her husband she went into the walk in closet and tried to lay on the floor. She was in too much pain…they rushed her to the hospital where she was given two pints of blood for the severe anemia. The reason for the severe stomach pain…her liver was shutting down. The back pain was due to a tumor the size of a softball sitting on her spine.

She was diagnosed with stage IV Colon Cancer which had spread to her liver and bladder. They had her on a few different chemo drugs, but they never seemed to do very well. She finally lost her hair in May of 2009.

She came home to visit us at the end of June 2009 and her lower jaw became numb, we came to find out later that it was a tumor on the brain that was pushing against a nerve that caused that.

My sister was told she should probably go to the hospital while she was on vacation and have it looked at…her exact words were “NO! I am on what could possibly be my last vacation with my family and whatever is wrong will be dealt with in two weeks when I get back to New Mexico!” She had the best vacation. She visited with all of us a lot. She got home the very end of June and passed away July 14th 2009. In the two weeks from the time she left Texas and passed her mind and body did a 180! The cancer had attacked her brain.

I will say that on our very last conversation before she flew back to New Mexico she said “I was wrong! If I would have gone to the doctor when I first thought something was wrong in 2005 I would not be where I am today! I wish I would have found out earlier!”

She was the sweetest,most kind person I have ever met. She was an awesome mother, daughter, sister, friend and wife. I will forever be grateful for all the time I did get to spend with her!

If she could tell you one thing right now it would be to know your body and know the signs. DON’T wait until it’s too late. And if you really think something is wrong….demand a colonoscopy.

I had one right after my sister was diagnosed and had four small polyps….no biggy. I have my next Colonoscopy on July 14th of this year….think she would appreciate me doing it on her one year anniversary…she always worried about me…always took care of me my whole life, she was my best friend.