High school began and Kim showed up with about a half an inch of hair on her head. She did her best to move on, not wanting to talk about what she had been through. Soccer tryouts arrived at the same time the doctors wanted to give her radiation. Kim managed to do both, going ahead with small shots of radiation for thirteen days in a row and showing up at soccer practices and making the team. Her freshman year was off to a brave start. Her stamina was not what it once was. During her down time, she got involved with the school chorus and it was then that everyone discovered her beautiful God-given gift of song.
For a year and a half, Kim pursued with joy, a fairly normal existence. The Make-a-Wish Foundation graciously gave her a horse of her own named Smokey. Kim enjoyed performing for Mr. Rose with the choir at Westlake High School. She sang for Children�s Hospital and did fundraisers for Children�s Miracle Workshop. Kim also spoke for the Peter Pan Foundation, sang for the American Cancer Foundation, Relay for Life, and was a spokesperson for young people living with cancer. She loved participating in the fundraisers for any of the organizations that called on her. People were anxious to hear from Kim. A very small percentage of all those who have cancer are young and their perspectives and insights are very valuable.
Kim almost made it to her one-year check up with a clean bill of health, but during a routine scan, they discovered a size differential on her original tumor. They scanned it a month later to be sure of their findings. Sure enough, her tumor had started to grow and the biopsy showed that Hodgkin�s had returned. Her tumor was now considered recurrent. Bigger therapy was required.
They were to continue with traditional therapy. It was recommended that Kim receive two rounds of ICE a month to a month and a half apart and then go into a stem cell transplant. Her stem cells were removed from her and frozen while she then received six days of high dosage chemotherapy, which would wipe out everything. She received this treatment at UCLA. Christmas 2002 and New Years 2003 for the Thornes was spent in an isolation unit of the university hospital. Kim responded amazingly well and was released mid-January.
In the midst of all her treatment, Kim found a friend in a young man named Rabia, who suffered with non-Hodgkin�s lymphoma. Rabia attended the same high school and was also an avid soccer player. They have supported each other through relapse and recovery, time and time again.
