Another reason I have been lax in posting is that Kathy was diagnosed with MDS Leukemia in July. She had been treated for anemia and they continued running rests and did a bone marrow test and discovered that her bone marrow was not producing viable cells or platelets.
Normally in the case of MDS Leukemia, the body will be lacking in red blood cells or white blood cells or platelets. Sometimes two of the three types may be affected. In rare cases (approximately 6,000 cases annually) all three types of cells are undeveloped.
She was able to get into treatment within a week of the diagnosis and went through three rounds of treatment and two or three units of blood and platelets a week. She continued to get weaker and spent 10 days in the hospital in September.
She fell on October first and spent another 10 day in the hospital. Her oncologist told use that the treatments and blood infusions were no longer working and there were no other options.
We brought her home on October 11 on Hospice care and she died on the 13th. I'm posting her obituary below.
Kathy Christian Hunter, beloved wife of Barry Hunter, to whom she was married on December 22, 1968, and mother to Scott Hunter, went to her forever home (on October 13, 2023) after a short fight with MDS Leukemia. She was surrounded by her family and dearest friends.
Kathy was born on November 21, 1950, at McCall Hospital to Julian C. and Kathryn Eubanks Christian, who preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her daughter, Kimberly Dawn Hunter and her brother, Robert C. Christian.
Kathy graduated from West Rome High School in 1968, and Coosa Valley Tech in 1969. She worked at GMAC while Barry was in Vietnam. She joined him at Fort Hood, Texas where their daughter Kimberly was born and died in 1970. After returning to Rome, she resumed her career as sales secretary at Boise Cascade Homes in Rome and Atlanta. She was private secretary to J.B. Dodd at Rome Bank & Trust. Later she joined the firm of Smith, Shaw, Maddox, Davidson, and Graham as executive secretary to Oscar Smith. When Smith retired, she became legal secretary to C. Wade Monk and Preston Smith. She was in that position until Monk took the position as Corporate Attorney at Floyd Medical Center where she joined him as his paralegal. She remained in this position until her retirement.
Kathy is survived by her husband Barry, her son Scott, his wife Apryl; grand-children Addisyn York, Christopher Barber, and Taylor Beard (Jonathan) of Sparks, Nevada; Gregory Barber (Jasmine) of Rockmart, Georgia, Kayla Bevers (Kyle) and Blake Jones of North Topsail Beach, North Carolina; great-grand-children River Beard, Abigail, Wyatt and Delayne Bevers, and Ramsey Jones. She is also survived by sister-in-law Brenda Christian of Savannah, Georgia, brother-in-law Jon Hunter (Kym) of Brooksville, Florida, and Joyce Port (Steve) of Atlanta, Georgia. Other nieces, nephews and cousins also survive.
The family would like to express thanks to Dr Dilawar Khan and his staff, the Atrium Hospital Infusion team, the third floor Oncology staff, and Heyman Hospice for their professional and sympathetic care.
According to her wishes, Kathy was cremated, and no services are planned at this time. Her wish is for everyone who knows her to remember the times she may have touched your lives and to hug your family and friends. Tomorrow is not promised, and one never knows what may happen.
In lieu of flowers, Kathy requests that you make donations to Cancer Navigators, Heyman Hospice or your favorite Veterans charity.
I will post more later...
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