To Here

….and here is the story of what has brought me here…

Kevin and I met online just over 3 years ago. I got a mysterious email sent from my old high school personal website that only included a picture. That picture was of Kevin, and after a few emails back and forth, I figured out he didn’t know how to work email, but that he was cute enough to talk to-Ha! Anyways-so began the hours long phone conversations that went well into early morning and caused some very disturbing phone bills (just ask my mom!).

Three weeks into our phone conversations, Kevin’s father passed away abruptly from an angyna attack. It was completely unexpected, and devastating for his family. Kevin held his faith through it, and we bonded even more so through this terrible event. Soon after, we decided it was time for us to finally meet face to face.

In August, Kevin came down to visit for two weeks, and we both admitted it was “love at first site”. The calls continued, and we visited each other as much as possible, although all long distance relationships are extremely difficult.

In April of 2006, Kevin came down to visit me in Montana where I was living at the time (I had moved from Lancaster in February of 2006 to Montana to explore). We were taking a walk along the Bitterroot river downtown, and he got down on one knee and professed his love and commitment to me. We were engaged, and life was roses.

So begins the immigration battle. Over the next 7 months we battled high and low with US immigration to get a K-1 fiance visa for Kevin to move to the states where we could be married. I moved home, as we decided it would be best to make our home in Lancaster. Finally, right around Thanskgiving, we got the best thing to be thankful for: an approval for the visa! Kevin flew to Vancouver over the following weeks to interview, and we were set.

The last week in January of 2007, Kevin and his mom and brother came down to move Kevin in and for our wedding. On February 3, 2007, we were married at New Danville Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pa. We honeymooned at my parents (primitive-haha-but comfy) hunting cabin in Wellsboro, Pa (northern) and Buffalo, NY. It was cold-did I mention we got married during a record cold week in Pa? That week’s average was around 10 F. Ugh!

During the first 4 months, Kevin was unable to legally work. It was very frustrating and difficult. Finally, in June, he received his working papers, and soon after, his 2 year permanent residency. In August, the position opened with Rohrer’s One Hour, who agreed to hire him on as an apprentice-he was so happy. We had moved to our College Avenue apartment in March and were finally settling into NORMAL married life.

I introduced Kevin to the Atlantic Ocean on Memorial Day weekend of 2007, and he was hooked to ocean life and surf fishing! Ever since, we’ve gotten down to the beach for getaway weekends as much as possible. It’s so relaxing, and so much fun for us.

Over the past year we have enjoyed exploring around the East and just enjoying finally being with each other! We have discovered that we are each other’s perfect fit. We’re a story that wouldn’t have happened, but for the grace of God, and invention of the internet!

At the end of June, 2008 Kevin Boitson, my husband of 1.5 years, developed trouble swallowing. He went to the Dr, who told him it was most likely an inflammation due to acid reflux and prescribed him prevacid. A week later, we left to travel to visit Kevin’s family in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.

During our trip in Winnipeg in early July 2008, Kevin’s inability to swallow properly increased immensely, leaving even just water painful to swallow. During our 1 week vacation in Canada, we placed two calls to our home physician who told us not to worry, just visit him when we got home.

We left a day early and arrived home at the end of the first week of July. The following Monday Kevin visited with his physician, who increased his dose of acid reflux medication and switched him to Nexium. He also scheduled Kevin with the gastroenterologist for an endoscopy to look at his esophagus the next week.

The next day, Kevin called me at work to tell me how painful his swallowing had become and that he couldn’t take it anymore. After several phone calls, I left work to take Kevin to the GI dr. at the local health campus. The nurse practitioner at the GI office seemed very concerned while taking notes about Kevin’s symptoms. 30 minutes later, we were sitting down with her and the Dr. discussing all the STAT procedures te GI Dr. wanted Kevin to have done: Chest Xray, CT scan, Endoscopy, blood work, etc.

The next day, Kevin had an emergency endoscopy which showed a mass of about 3 cm growing at the base of esophagus. He told us he was nearly positive it was cancerous, and sent the biopsy to pathology for examination.

While waiting for the biopsy results to return, Kevin was sent for a PET scan to see if any other parts of his bodies showed cancerous/active cells. The following week it was confirmed Kevin had cancer, but pathology was unable to identify his type of cancer. It was decided they would try surgery first, and go from there.

That Friday, July 25th, Kevin and I went to Hershey for an endoscopic ultrasound. The procedure was very painful for Kevin and did not go very well due to lack of sedation. The weekend following, Kevin’s symptoms and pain increased, and by Monday morning the 28th we were in the ER at Lancaster.

Kevin was admitted to the hospital after the ER visit where they told us he most likely had pneumonia and was running a fever. Throughout the next week and a half, Kevin was moved, moved and moved with more and more tests being done. He had another endoscopy done for another biopsy because not only Lancaster, but also Johns Hopkins hospital was unable to determine the type of cancer to then proceed with treatment.

While Kevin was in the hospital, fluids built up in and around his lungs and heart, and they were unsure of the source. Wed, August 6th, we were informed Kevin would be transferred the next day to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore due to the possibly rarity of his tumor.

Thursday, August 7th, due to Kevin’s lack of proper breathing, it was agreed to put him on a ventilator. That afternoon, Kevin was transferred via ambulance to Johns hopkins hospital, after having a chest drain put in, and put on the ventilator.

Early in the morning on August 8th, the surgeon at Johns Hopkins decided that Kevin would most likely need an emergency esophagectomy due to a possible perforation in his esophagus. They hoped at the same time to remove the tumor, but the surgery had very high risks. That evening, around 8pm, when my parents and sister arrived, Kevin was taken into surgery.

We were able to get a medical emergency flight for Kevin’s mom to be here, and we all waited anxiously for about 7 hours until 3 am Saturday morning for the surgery to end. Kevin made it out of surgery, but they were unable to remove the tumor due to it attaching itself to other organs. They did biopsy it again, as they still had not determined the type of tumor.

Kevin remained on the ventilator for almost a week, when they finally took it off, and removed his catheter. The night before he was taken off, it was finally confirmed he has angiosarcoma, a very rare type of tumor that only occurs in 1000 people in the US every year. With the location of Kevin’s tumor, running from the mouth to stomach, his tumor is even more rare.

Kevin was on chemotherapy (taxol) treatment and was doing ok. There is no cure for angiosarcoma, but it does respond well to chemotherapy. Kevin was discharged from Johns Hopkins in early September, and after 3 weeks of freedom, we were back at our local hospital for pain and some possible internal bleeding. After some major complications, and 2 weeks at Lancaster General Hospital we finally made it to Johns Hopkins.

On October 28, 2008, Kevin went to be with his lord and savior and finally allowed his body to rest.

I am now 7 weeks out from Kevin’s passing and am hanging on. I am devastated, but not destroyed. I miss Kevin beyond belief, and am so sad to not be able to share my life with him anymore. Whenever I think of him being gone, I just break. I am so blessed with my strong support system, and if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here today. I know that.

For whatever reason, God and Kevin have given me a brand new chapter to my life. I don’t want it, but here I am. I hope you’ll continue to follow my journey as I move forward from this terrible loss. Thank you all for your continued support, hope and prayers. I love you all.

Here are a few pictures from back when…

Kissy Kissy while dating, at Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

Kissy Kissy while dating, at Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

Our New Year's Dinner at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Our New Year's Dinner at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg

At a friend's place in Montana where we had originally hoped to get married...

At a friend's place in Montana where we had originally hoped to be married...

At our wedding social in Winnipeg

At our wedding social in Winnipeg

Our Wedding day in Lancaster :)

Our Wedding day in Lancaster 🙂

More of that GREAT day!

More of that GREAT day!

Running into the COLD!

Running into the COLD!

Walking through Downtown Lancaster after the ceremony

Walking through Downtown Lancaster after the ceremony

Wonderful Reception Kiss

Wonderful Reception Kiss

Numb to the bone on our honeymoon at International Falls

Numb to the bone on our honeymoon at International Falls

Much warmer staying in Buffalo at The Mansion on Delaware during our honeymoon (notice the Buffalo Sabres gear?-GO SABRES!)

Much warmer staying in Buffalo at The Mansion on Delaware during our honeymoon (notice the Buffalo Sabres gear?-GO SABRES!)

Happier times in Baltimore-During a trip to Fell's Point

Happier times in Baltimore-During a trip to Fell's Point

Our Favorite Place to be-Assateague Island, Md Fishing!

Our Favorite Place to be-Assateague Island, Md Fishing!

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