This page is for friends, family and supporters of Kira and her fight with brain cancer. This started Friday 11-3-17. We learned of the diagnosis 11-9-17…
Many people following this that are friends of Robert’s (dad), Wendy’s (mom) or Kira’s (Baby girl). Just wanted to give an idea how this played out. If You want, you can donate at https://www.gofundme.com/helpkirafight or directly to my paypal
account (no fees) @ wendyastanley@gmail.com. Her Timeline:
Late September - Kira complained about double vision. We took her to an optometrist and they prescribed her new contacts. We know it sometimes takes a while to adjust so we gave it a little time but the double vision did not improve. Friday, Nov 3 – Kira complained of a bad headache which continued through the weekend. We made attempts to manage it with OTC meds, rest, dehydration, etc
Monday, Nov 6 – Wendy took Kira to urgent care because Kira still had the headache and was feeling dizzy. The urgent care doctor suggested that we call our primary care physician and make an appointment to either do an MRI (he was concerned more about the double vision) or have the doctor do a migraine “workup”. He told us to take Excedrin Migraine – which actually seemed to relieve her pain that night. Tuesday, Nov 7 – Kira woke up feeling dizzy again and the headache had returned. Wendy took her to the ER. The ER doctor did bloodwork to check for infection, cell counts, etc. All good. He recommended we keep our appointment for the general practice doctor (which I had scheduled for 2:30 that day). He suggested that the general doctor order an MRI. Same day, Tuesday, Nov 7 – General doctor visit. The doctor said he was concerned about the double vision and ordered an MRI stat. The imaging place could not make an appointment for us until Friday (ironically today – the day I’m writing this timeline). We went home and tried to manage the headache and rest. Wednesday, Nov 8 – Kira woke up nauseous and with a headache. She experienced slurred speech and dizziness and spinning. Wendy called the general doctor’s office and they told her to go directly to the ER (again). Same day, Wednesday, Nov 8 – Went to the ER in Encinitas. The ER doctor did a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to test for meningitis. Those results came back negative. The ER doctor ordered an MRI which they did. After a long while of waiting, the doctor relayed the findings of the MRI to Wendy. Large mass in the base of the brain that appeared to be malignant. (side note: Robert had been in AZ for a work conference during all of this. He was not due back in San Diego until Saturday. He sped back home in Kira’s car (she coincidentally just bought that was in AZ)
Wednesday to the ER and arrived just after receiving this news about the tumor. He may have driven so fast that he broke the car :-/)
Same night, Wednesday, Nov 8 – transferred by ambulance to Rady Children’s Hospital ICU. They did another, more comprehensive MRI around 10pm. The doctors were gone for the night. Thursday, Nov 9 – Team of doctors, social workers, nurses and life specialists informed us that it was indeed a cancerous tumor. We have since been sorting through a flood of information about cancer, brain tumors, clinical trials, biopsies, pain management, quality of life, etc. Thank you to everyone for all your support and referrals and research and snacks and prayers and hums and positive vibes. Your positive energy is felt and appreciated.
