Kimberly Dunlap

My Experience with Cancer

“experience with cancer” At first I was in complete shock. A large tumor was found on my siactic nerve which cause permanent nerve and muscle damage in my feet so for the first couple of months I was in a wheel chair. So, first came 6 weeks of radiation to shrink the tumor….it was successful! I was so happy when I could walk with a walker and in a few short months with some therapy I was walking with a cane. Today I still have to use the cane for long distances, but around the house I don’t need to use it. Next came the 8 rounds of Chemotherapy 7 days a week; I felt pretty good the first month a little nausea and a little week. On the second month my hair was really falling out and pretty much gone by the 3rd month…I cried my heart out!! It was just before my 6th round of chemo started I was introduced to a new team, “The Transplant Team” it was explained to me how the procedure was going to work; harvesting my own autologous cells for my 2 or tandem bone marrow transplants. I went back to my city to complete the last 3 rounds of chemo, before beginning the harvesting of my cells to start my bone marrow transplants, of course they were successful. A complete stringent response they said on April 18, 2010. My oncology team at home were some of the most caring people I have every met before and then I met the wonderful team that did my transplants. I feel privileged to have had such wonderful doctors and nurses caring for me. Through all this my husband was my primary care giver, he never complained and he learned how to do everything for me including giving me shots in my stomach three times a day. I’m so grateful that God blessed me with a great man to share my life with and I’m so grateful that God was by my side making me strong each day. He has given me a second chance at life and I plan to live it to the fullest.

Hobbies

walking on the beach with my husband
spending time with my 2 great sons
playing with my 2 Great Danes
traveling

Books

There are so many!! I will go ahead and list some of the authors; Stephen King, VC Andrews, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Joel Osteen, Lavinia Kent, just to name a few.

IT
Misery
Bag of Bones
Green Mile
Children in the Attic Series
Bible

Music

LOVE music all different types…except classical don’t care for it!
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland
Dixie Chicks
Tim McGraw
Blake Shelton
Eagles
Pink Floyd
Heart
Faith Hill
Celine Dion
Akon
Babyface
LL Cool J
Will Smith

Movies

So many nothing else to do when your sick in bed for so long:

The Shining
IT
Misery
Steel Magnolias
Bourne Identity ~ the whole series
Mission Impossible ~ all of them
Planet of the Apes original & remake
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
What A Woman Wants
Lethal Weapon ~ all of them
Rush Hour ~ all of them
Lord of the Rings ~ all of them
Vanilla Sky
Jerry McGuire
Mimic

My Kind of People

warm, caring, funny, loud, loving, loyal, trustworthy,

Reason for Being Here

I’m here on this site to blog about my cancer and to meet others who have been through the same types of treatments. Until I was diagnosed with MM I had never even heard of it! I’m hear to listen when someone needs to talk. I believe talking about what you have been through is a type of therapy that starts to heal your soul at lease for me it does. Being able to talk to someone who has been through it makes it easier to talk about.

Words of Wisdom

REMAIN POSITIVE
REMAIN STRONG
ALWAYS HAVE HOPE
ALWAYS HAVE FAITH
ALWAYS FOLLOW WHAT YOUR DOCTORS & NURSES TELL YOU TO DO!

Religion

Christian

Know Me

I married my high school sweetheart in 1983 and this August 2013 we will be married 30 years. We have to grown sons that are our pride and joy, sometimes headache…LOL!! We are avid animal lovers of wild and domesticated animals. I’m retired now, sometimes its nice and sometimes it stinks. I’m unable to drive because I’m on narcotics for my chronic pain, so I have to rely on others. I blog and play games on Facebook to pass the time. We love to travel, took our travel trailer and went from home in South Carolina to where all my family members live in California. We saw all types of sights along the way; Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosmite, Yellowstone and many other sights.