Kristin "Kourageous" Katich

What an awful night! We were finally able to make it here for our over night chemo. This is the good news. The bad news is that we were not able to get a private room, and even worse, Kristin was put with a seven month old baby. Now, we LOVE babies,but when they are cancer patients they are not happy campers. This makes for a rather miserable night for us all. The new meds, cytoxan, ara c, and another one that I have forgotten at the moment, are starting to make her quite nauseated. They are administering lots of fluids so she woke up on the puffy side. I was worried about this and how she would feel when she looked in the mirror, but she feels so awful that it does not matter at the moment. This should resolve itself within 24 hours. These meds will make her numbers really go low, but not for a few days. They told Kristin to take advantage of this small window of time and visit friends and try to feel normal for a while. She can't wait! We watched "Gone With The Wind" la...

T-shirts are available through Amy Erger at 852-0428 or 354-8825. The proceeds from the sale will go into an account to directly benefit Kristin. These shirts say Live Happy on the front and Team Kristin on the back. They are red with white lettering, 50/50 blend and come in sizes s,m.lg.xlg., xxl. We are still here in Vacaville waiting for Kristin's ANC count to go up. We were scheduled for surgery on the 24th., but her numbers were too low. Consequently, we are waiting until Monday to start "consolidation." The upside to waiting for these couple of days may make it possible for her to go to the JA dance. She is looking forward to this dance so much. I know that she just wants to be with friends again and forget about Leukemia for just a little while. I cannot blame her one bit and hope that it works out for her. In the mean time, we are trying to pass the time somewhat constructively. I have taken her to early matinees, making lists of things to do, write letters, etc. ...

My apologies for not updating the blog sooner. My access to the Internet has been scare this past while. That being said, here a re-cap of our latest adventures. Kristin had a wonderful week at home. It was just what the doctor ordered. She was relaxed, content, and rejuvenated. We left for Children's last Wednesday just as Cody and Wyatt were coming down with bad colds. Consequently, that is why we have been in Vacaville until the coast is clear at home. On January 17, Kristin had another bone marrow biopsy and lunbar puncture with interthecal chemo.. the labs on both of these draws came back "clean. " Yippee! This is very good news so now she is ready to move onto the consolidation phase of treatment. This is another phase of the two and a half years of treatment she will undergo. While we have been here, we had to go back to Children's for labs and some severe stomach pains. After an x-ray, we discovered why she was in so much agony. To spare her furth...

It was decided that we could come home for a few days. Wow! We discussed the safety net we had here in Reno and our support system of friends and family. I will tell you all that we could not have come home if it were not for each and everyone of you! Family and friends...thank you for every little thing you do. I have found a few things to be true. Life before cancer, life during cancer, and to come, life after cancer. It hit me as I was taking Wyatt to school for the first time B.C. (before cancer) I was trying to get back into my daily groove and realized that would not be possible. So, just one day at a time will do. Kristin is so happy to be in her own space. Her brothers are being so kind and caring. Even Eric is going to cut his hair for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wonderful Tammi DiPietro; hairstylist extraordinaire, came over and cut her hair. She is so good and Kristin feels fabulous in a not so fabulous situation. She put on makeup, clean clothes, and we too...

Just a quick update.. Yesterday Kristin's ANC (absolute neutrophil count) was low and today her labs came back with an even lower number. A normal ANC would be between 3000-5000. Her's is 450. This means she is very susceptible to serious infection. This is common when your immune system has been destroyed with chemotherapy. Consequently we are on hold until tomorrow's labs come back. She has felt pretty awful the last few days. Now that she is off some of the strong steroids, her blood sugars are trying to correct themselves as her pancreas begins to do it's job. This is causing her blood sugar to crash. Every hour she seems to be breaking out in a sweat, grow weak and very shaky. We are getting a hold on the situation and it looks like we will not be going home with insulin. Yes! We have watched all the great musicals while we have been here. You must know that this is something that would never be tolerated at home so we have taken advantage of the time. ...

It is hard to imagine that we have been here for nineteen days. If all continues without complications, we can be released on Monday.YAHOO! There is much to learn. Maybe I should of studied nursing instead, but I am feeling much more confident and informed than I was a few weeks ago. The staff here are great teachers and have educated us as much as possible. I am a firm believer in modern medicine and that it is through divine inspiration that we have this blessing on the earth today. Even more so, that it is blessing our lives and helping Kristin become whole again. The blessings and prayers have been a tremendously powerful gift in her live. Each day she draws on these blessings and they give her so much comfort. I cannot express to you have important they have been to her in this blog. Yesterday was a particularly hard day with nauseousness, hair loss, impact on school and social life, the long stay here, missing the comforts of home, and; for lack of a better word, crappy food. The...

Sorry for not updating everyone sooner. No, it is not me who is ravenous, but Kristin's got an appetite like none other. We are finding the yin and yang between the powerful appetite brought on by the steroids and controlling the"situational diabetes" as a result of the steroids. She fights the urge to make Cup Of Noodles at 3 a.m.. Although, I think she has made some while sleep walking last night or maybe that was just a dream of hers. She has had some crazy dreams since we got here. Since she cannot eat before having her blood sugar checked now, they will not bring in her food. It is left at the nurses station. So, when she does emerge from our "penthouse on the 5 th " everyone knows she is looking for food. We are gearing up for another heavy round of chemo today. The side effects are kicking in. Since chemo kills all rapidly growing cells, this includes the lining of the mouth and esphagus . Not fun! Her mouth is staring to get sore so we are on guard for ...