KIM Anderson (39), a resident from Eikenhof, is not only a cancer fighter but an inspiration to most of her friends and colleagues.
She has been in the area for more than seven years. Her husband, Bruce, grew up in Alberton and both their children, Charlize (10) and Chatham (2), are in schools in Alberton.
The mother of two has been diagnosed with Angiosarcoma cancer in 2015. It is a very rare cancer.
How cancer changed everything:
Angiosarcoma is a cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels, and it can occur in any area of the body. The disease most commonly occurs in the skin, breast, liver, spleen, and deep tissue.
According to Kim she bumped the side of her breast against a wall one day and since then her left breast was swollen. It was the size of 14mm by 14mm in three weeks.
“I went to a doctor who gave me antibiotics, but unfortunately it didn’t work. My breast kept on swelling. So I went to a general surgeon who did a lumpectomy. That is when we found out about my cancer,” said Kim.
It changed her life as she was a healthy person before and now all of a sudden she has cancer. Kim has had 13 surgeries, completed her fifth chemotherapy including the Red Devil and went for radiation.
Doctors told her so many times that she is clear and that the cancer is gone, just to find out that she is not clear.
In constant pain
Kim fell pregnant with their second child in 2016 and she went for chemotherapy while pregnant.
“To be honest that was a stressful time as I worried about my baby. I finished chemotherapy one week before the birth of my son.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster and I lost my sexuality through this process,” she said.
Her longest surgery and also the worst one for her was when tumours were found in her pulmonary vein. Doctors had to cut her veins in her ankles to replace the pulmonary vein. It was a six-hour surgery.
Kim also had very bad side effects from the different treatments such as losing layers of her skin on her hands and feet.
“I can’t walk or even bath my child. It is so rough that my hands start to bleed,” she said.
She is in constant pain and always tired which makes it difficult to do her motherly duties. Sometimes her daughter or husband has to bath her as the pain is just too bad. In a period of three years she lost 21 kg. All her lymph nodes in her left arm had been removed and one can see that blood is not flowing through the left arm.
Kim is now again undergoing chemotherapy as doctors found tumours located in her chest.
“The last time I visited my oncologist he told me that they tried all of the possible options and that there is not much they can do anymore. He gave me six months and that was a month ago.”
Keep on fighting till the end:
Kim told the RECORD that she is busy with a memory box for her daughter (10).
“I wrote her a letter which she can read on her wedding day for instance.
“I am not going to give up. I am going to fight until the end. For now, I live for today.”
Kim is a very logical person and she said that she knows cancer is going to take her and she is preparing everything to be ready for ‘that day’.
She also went to Stepping Stone Hospice to make arrangements for when the time comes.
“I left hospice shaking like a leaf,” she said.
Her family has taken a lot of strain, but all of them are just carrying on. Kim doesn’t have a bucket list, but she wants to spend every second with her husband and children.
“I want us to be together and to laugh and to have fun,” she said.
“We can’t plan because we don’t know what is going to happen. Giving up is not an option for me because I’ve got two beautiful children who look up to me and who actually don’t allow me to be miserable.
“I want my children to know that their mom is a fighter no matter what the cost or in my case pain. There is no need for me to be sad or feel sorry for myself because these things happen in life,” she said.
“It is so easy to give up when you are sick and have pain, but don’t.”
Thank you:
Kim wants to say thank you to Bruce and her children for always being there.
“Also thank you to Stella and Mark Jennings who has been so good to us. They pick up my children daily from school and even helps out at our house like bathing my son when I can’t. Thank you to my family and friends for all the support,” said Kim.
Sister’s bucket list:
So even though Kim doesn’t have a bucket list, her sister made one for them. On November 24 they are going on a hot air balloon ride.
“I am scared, really I am, but also excited at the same time. So far this is the first thing on the list,” she said.
For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za
Add us on WhatsApp today! Comaro Chronicle: 079 427 8074 and Southern Courier: 079 404 5789.
Get regular news updates sent directly to your inbox: Newsletter-Signup
