Shorewood couple finds healing in multiple ways during cancer journey
Two Shorewood residents recently found hope and healing at one Texas hospital.
Bill and Kim Cunnea both spoke highly of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. There, Bill received treatment for a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Kim renewed her strength through the hospital’s caregiver support group.
But their journey started in 2016 with a diagnosis they didn’t see coming.
Excuses About three years ago, the physically active and physically fit Bill started seeing what he considered random symptoms, peculiar, but nothing he connected to anything serious.
“I’d always been a healthy person,” Bill said. “Aside from a cold or the flu, I’d never been sick.”
As each odd symptom appeared, Bill found a logical reason for it, reasons Bill now calls “excuses.”
Spontaneous “jet black” bruising? “Oh, I’m getting old. My blood must be thinning.” (Bill also used this excuse when he cut himself shaving and bled a little longer than he should.)
Night sweats? “I’ve got too many covers on.”
Crippling fatigue in the morning? “I work long days.”
But then came the day Bill injured himself slightly doing yard work – and bled enough to scare him. He went to the doctor, who didn’t seem too concerned until Bill explained the rest of his symptoms.
“I saw his body language change,” Bill said. “And I thought, ‘Oh, boy, I’ve got some problems here.’ ”
Tests showed Bill had Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. According to the American Cancer Society website, WM is rare, with about 1,000 to 1,500 people diagnosed each year in the U.S.
It’s more common in men than woman (about twice as common) and more common among whites and in seniors. Mid-60s is the average age at the time of diagnosis, the ACS website also said.
“The diagnosis was devastating,” Bill said. “To go from not being sick was like going from 0 to 100. ... It was mind-altering, to say the least.” Healing Because of WM’s rarity, the Cunneas researched their best options for treatment and decided to head down to MD Anderson Cancer Center. Bill was diagnosed in April 2016. He and Kim went down in May and stayed for 10 days, where Bill underwent tests and his doctor made a treatment plan: “pretty intense cycles of chemotherapy for two years.”
“It was a pretty tough run for him,” Kim said.
Fortunately, Bill could stay close to home for the bulk of treatments, which Bill said he had at Edward Hospital in Naperville, and then follow-up in Houston.
“One of the things we found out is how sick he actually was,” Kim said. “If he had hit his head, he might have bled out.”
Still, Bill felt his overall healthy lifestyle helped him cope with his chemotherapy regimen.
“I think because I’m active and work out, I was able to tolerate the treatment better than many other who don’t have an active life,” Bill said. “But what was really different was the mental piece. That’s where the caregiver part comes in. My family and Kim really helped me through some dark times.”
But Kim foundered, too. After first, Kim found solace in making the appointments, paying bills, filling out insurance claims and making arrangements for Houston.
“But once I started to slowly absorb what was happening, I had this terrible feeling about our future,” Kim said. “Bill and I had been planners and dreamers and we have a bucket list. All of sudden – is that not going to happen for us? He’s my best friend and I couldn’t believe what happened to our lives; what did we do to deserve it?”
Kim found it “terribly hard” to share these feelings with Bill because she didn’t want to “bring him any further down than he was.” But one of the reasons she and Bill chose MD Cancer Center was because of its holistic approach to cancer.
“There are lots of opportunities to be healed in lots of ways and tons of opportunities for caregivers to get the support they need,” Kim said. Kim decided to check out the caregiver support group.
“I thought maybe this would help,” Kim said. “I was at a loss to even know where to start. This was not a place in my life where I wanted to be.”
At the caregiver support group, Kim met people at different stages in their loved one’s cancer journey. And Kim began to think, “OK, she’s got her stuff together. I think I can do this and not fall apart.”
Today, Kim gives back to the group by sharing her experiences. Bill’s cancer, while not in remission, is in what he calls a “watch and wait” state. His treatments are suspended, but his immune system is still fragile and he’s still susceptible to infection.
Nevertheless, he’s back to work and working out; he recently completed a marathon. And he recently spent time in Colorado – one-on-one time with each of his three children, Mitchell, 26, Kellie, 24, and Brittany, 21.
“Having love and support from family and friends was key in helping us get through the tough times,” Bill said.