A great loss

Back when I was in ultrasound school, we had to do clinical rotations at the different hospitals in the area. While doing a rotation at Mercy, I met a sonographer named Aimee. Right off the bat, we students loved being with her. She was always upbeat and fun, made learning easy. At some point during my schooling, she left Mercy to work at Lutheran Hospital, another hospital in Des Moines. We didn't have a rotation through Lutheran so I lost touch with Aimee.

After a few years and a series of random events, Aimee and I started working together at Lutheran Hospital. Along with fellow songraphers Karri and Lisa, we all hung out together inside and outside of work. It was a fun place to be. Aimee was always ready to help and be a great encouragement on days when we were all tired or busy or just plain cranky.

Aimee and her husband, Adam had always wanted children but after several miscarriages, they settled for adopting a daughter from China. Aimee shared with us all the struggles and red tape she and Adam had to go through to adopt little Kiera. They finally went to China in late 2005 and brought Kiera home. Soon after that, Aimee discovered she was pregnant. Figuring she'd miscarry again, she didn't announce her pregnancy for quite a while. I still remember the day she came to work and told us not only was she pregnant, but she was almost 20 weeks pregnant! She had never made it past her 1st trimester before, so this was a big deal. Her pregnancy was hard and in the end, she had an emergency c-section to deliver Brooke, a few weeks premature. While in the hospital, she tried to breast feed Brooke. After 2 days of trying but no success, the doctors recommended she have a mammogram to see if there was anything going on. She checked out of the hospital early so she could have her mammogram back at Lutheran with people she knew and radiologists she trusted. It was discovered that she had breast cancer. She was just 37 years old.

A few days later, a biopsy discovered it was a very rare, very aggressive form of breast cancer. When Brooke was just a few weeks old, Aimee started her first round of chemo. Aimee always had super curly, super long hair. In just a short time, it was gone. Through all this, she was a fighter. She was convinced she could beat the cancer. She knew the prognosis wasn't good, but she never asked for an exact time-line. No one can predict what's going to happen so why ask a doctor to play God? She didn't want the threat of death to keep her from experiencing her children's lives and continuing to travel, which she was ALWAYS doing!

Last year, she got some good news! It seemed like the cancer was gone. She was thrilled. She turned 40 and thought it was going to be such a good year.

Then January 2010 came.

During a routine PET/CT scan to look for cancer recurrence, it was found that the cancer hadn't just returned, it had come back with a vengeance. It was now in her brain. She still felt confident she could beat it. After all, didn't Lance Armstrong beat the odds? And look at him now? If he can do it, anyone can. She turned 41 knowing she had an uphill battle.

My friend, Aimee Krug lost that battle April 3, 2010. Kiera is 5, Brooke is 3. Adam is now a widower.

The world has lost a great woman. She will be missed for years to come. It's a sad day.