Kim Maddox update: I had to wait until she felt a little better to record this video. Kims been so sick for the past three weeks and we made a call to go see her oncologist and after she saw her lab work, she rushed Kim to the ER. I’m so emotional writing this right now so please just look at Kim’s video to know her results and hear her plea to raise funding for Alternative Cancer Treatment in Mexico. She’s so tired of the horrible chemotherapy side effects that make her feel worse and worse! There’s a GoFund me account and a celebrity basketball tournament being set up to help pay for the Alternative Cancer Treatment and we need your help and support! Thank you friends and family! If you don’t want to wait for that, just send a check, please make it out to Kimberly Maddox and mail it to 3300 Hunter Ln. Carmichael, CA 95608. We received our first $50.00 from another cancer warrior Veronica Sanchez Behning thank you sweetie! We love you and are praying for your health as well[?]

Posted by Angel Macias on Thursday, July 14, 2016


Video courtesy of Kim Maddox’s Facebook page.

The community continues to rally around Cal State Long Beach grad, retired Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) Detective and Olympic basketball player Kim Maddox, launching a GoFundMe page to help pay for alternative cancer treatment. As of 5:00PM Monday, the GoFundMe had raised $5,410 of its $85,000 goal.

Maddox was diagnosed with cancer in December 2014, after experiencing stomach pains during a game of basketball. Upon hospitalization, the doctor discovered a tumor the size a grapefruit—it was Stage IIIC ovarian cancer. He was simply amazed she’d be functioning as a normal human being, given the tumor.

 

“When he told me, I looked at him and asked him, ‘Am I gonna die?’ and he said ‘No—not today.'”

IMG 7432She began chemotherapy that January, and by that June she was in remission.

But three months later, the cancer had metastasized to her stomach, lungs and lymph nodes. She re-started chemo, but this time, the chemo began to take its toll on her body, resulting in numerous emergency hospitalizations. Maddox learned her liver enzymes were too high to continue.

She wasn’t able to eat, and could barely move. Maddox oncologist told her that her liver is too damaged due to chemo and not a whole lot more that can do.

Following the news, Maddox had a chance encounter with a woman in the hospital who was still alive, despite having been diagnosed with Stage IV. She credited seeking alternative treatment at the Centro Medico de Noroes Hospital in Mexico with her current cancer-free status. Maddox was inspired.

“I’d rather try something else than not try my best to defeat cancer,” said Maddox. “It’s 28 days of detox from chemo – a good break, because chemo makes you feel terrible.”

Friends have spearheaded a GoFundMe to help Maddox receive treatment from the hospital, which exclusively selects people it can help.

Maddox’s energy in fighting the cancer is remarkable, but she’s always been a fighter. After serving as the co-president of Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, Inc., she retired from her job as a LBPD detective to have time to take care of her wife’s brother’s children. Her cancer diagnosis came shortly after.

The events also came after a life as an athlete, playing for four years for the Long Beach State 49ers women’s basketball team and playing professional basketball in Europe. At Long Beach State, Maddox still ranks among the top four performers in all of the key career categories: points (1775), assist (461), field goals (779) and steals (219). She participated in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic trials; she played for the U.S. National Team during its 1978 tour of the Orient.

It’s apparent when talking to Maddox that she has a passion for her community, and is fighting to help others as well. When discussing another man she knows through treatment who is nearing his death due to cancer and losing hope, she started tearing up.

“She cries more for friends than for herself,” said her wife, Angel Macias. She talked of other friends organizing what they hope to be an annual celebrity basketball tournament in Long Beach.

“She hopes this will be her legacy,” said Macias.

Maddox said she’s been blown away by the kindness shown to her in the community, and expressed endless gratitude for the relationships she’s cultivated.

“People send me cards. People come—friends who I never thought would be able to make it have visited,” said Maddox. “I found out I’m an ok person. I never thought I as a bad person, but you never know how much you’re loved. I’m glad I’m still alive to see it.”

She’s hoping the alternative treatment will provide a new way to live and deter the cancer, so she can continue to embrace her community through action and spirit.

“We have hope,” said Macias.

“You never know what each day is gonna be,” said Maddox. “I’m just happy to wake up on the other side of the dirt. I don’t know any way but to fight.”

Photos courtesy of Kim Maddox. Above: Angel Macias and Kim Maddox.