My Sister and I for a Week

I just wanted to update everyone on how everything is going post-hospital and what I’ve been up to the past couple of days. I finally got to go home after five days of chemo and two blood transfusions. Since then I have gone back for a day of outpatient chemo and another day for a blood test and appointment with Dr. T—the Queen. I’m not feeling too sick, minus head/back aches and some flu-like symptoms. I am not allowed to take Tylenol/Ibuprofen/Advil/etc because they “mask fevers,” so they gave me some strong pain meds. The pain meds put me right to sleep, so I usually just end up taking them at night and deal with it during the day.
My sister is still here from Portland, and even though she has to work on the computer during work hours, we’re still able to talk and hang out. When I got out of the hospital, I’m pretty sure we stayed in our pajamas the entire day until 5 p.m., and we only changed because we had to go to Whole Foods to buy fish for dinner. Lazy Lazy. We haven’t been able to do a whole lot outside of hanging around the house (which—oddly enough—we’re both accustomed to). We’ve been grocery shopping twice, something we both enjoy. Kari Ann likes walking down every single aisle—I find this hilarious. We went “shopping” at Marshall’s, but we didn’t buy anything other than face wash—not entirely unsuccessful I suppose. We also had one of Kari Ann’s friends over for dinner—Jed. He was hilarious, had some good tips for my California trip (which I’m still hoping will happen), and kept Kari Ann and I laughing the whole time he was here.
When I went to the hospital a couple days ago, I met a girl my age from Guadalajara, Mexico.
We both decided that she’s going to help me with Spanish, and I’m going to help her with English. Her name is Eli, she has ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia). For those of you who don’t remember…I have Lymphoma (obviously), but I am undergoing an ALL protocol/treatment. Needless to say, we had/have a lot to talk about as she’s been to Mendoza (where I studied abroad for five months) and absolutely loved it, and we’re on very similar treatments. Anyways, she’s living in Houston with her mom until June.
Kari Ann leaves today :( I’m sure she’s ready to go home to Bryan, and I’m also sure she’s had enough of my sleep talking (or whispering). She keeps telling me that I whisper in my sleep and that it’s really creepy. I’d like to say that it’s the chemo talking (literally), but according to my dad, it is in the Kayworth genes. Kari Ann was a good little nurse; she puts my shots out for me every morning and evening, makes sure I took my meds, and is just super attentive asking me all the time if I am feeling alright or if I need anything. She was worried that she wasn’t going to do a good job, but she was awesome. (Note to Kari Ann: I am going to miss you, and Bryan is so right—you ARE a wonderful cook.) Kari Ann and I weren’t always the best of friends. She’s three and a half years older than me; we’ve watched home videos, so I know that I was pretty annoying (and I’m sure that on occasion I still am). I used to call her “My Sissy.” Now that I’m technically an adult, I use a more mature-sounding “sister” when I address her. Our phone conversations usually begin like this: I yell (according to Kari Ann, I yell when I talk on the phone) “Hello sister…” and she replies “Hi sister…” My senior year we finally became friends, and now I would say she knows me better than anyone else. Kari Ann, being the goofball that she is, one time as we were walking around the high school track said “let’s make a pact, and we can be like blood sisters or something.” After a moment of thought I replied, “Kari Ann—we already are.” We laughed hysterically, which happens a lot when we’re together. We can be complete idiots when we’re together, and if people heard or watched us, they would probably think we were weird or maybe even a little crazy. That’s why I love my sister. She’s goofy and says the most random and crazy things sometimes, but when you need someone to talk to she’s wise and always has the best advice. She’s also not afraid to tell me when I’m in the wrong. I can’t count the number of times I’ve called her when I was upset and couldn’t talk to anyone else but her. She’s super smart—who keeps their job in New York City when they live in Portland, Oregon, even after two rounds of people being let go? She laughs a lot and can laugh at herself (one word for you Kari Ann—spines). She’s compassionate and selfless—I mean, come on, what newlywed leaves their husband for 10 days? By the way, thank you Bryan for sharing :) She’s beautiful inside and out. Bryan, you are one blessed guy, and I’m one blessed girl to have a sister like Miss Karolina Ann Tilson.

How to Reach Me

Hey all! I've been told that my stingy blog is not letting people leave posts. If you want to drop me a line, you can e-mail me at kendallkayworth@gmail.com. I don't have any new news, besides the fact that I met two other people around my age! The girl's name is Tana, she's 25 and has AML again (acute myelogenous leukemia) after two years of being in remission. She's four doors down from me, and we've gotten to talk quite a bit. Then I met a 27 year old guy on my floor who has AML as well, and he has an incredible story. We got to talk for a while; he told me he was diagnosed right after he graduated High School, was told he had 2-4 weeks to live, and has never gone into remission (he's been fighting cancer for 9 years). I'm seeing that as bad as my cancer is, it could always be worse. God continues to be faithful and is answering prayers.
Love to all.
p.s. If you haven't read the longest blog ever from December 31st, then you need to. It's posted below.