Kristin "Kourageous" Katich

Kristin and her wish granters First and foremost, we want to express our deepest and sincerest heartfelt gratitude to MAKE A WISH for granting Kristin's wish. Her wish trip was everything and more. We traveled to the beautiful island of Saint Lucia. It is deep in the Caribbean, fourteen miles wide x twenty seven miles long, green and gracious. Politeness and living slow are the norm, driving on the opposite side of the road is suicidal, and cows and goats grazing lazily in the intersections and roadsides are commonplace. Our hotel came equipped with all the fanfare paradise can offer. Sail boats, kayaks, plenty of "Yah Mons and My Lady,"unlimited smoothies, blue skies, white sand, warm water and towering palms. I think the pictures will tell the rest of the story....

kayaking the big blue sailing with Darren our first night in Saint Lucia flying the plane her way limo ride to airport

Just a quick note to let you all know we are heading for the island of Saint Lucia for Kristin's Make A Wish tomorrow! A limo will be picking our family up at 9:00.... unbelieveable . Kristin cannot wait and feels like this is the best medicine ever. Honestly, I cannot wait either. I promise to post fabulous pictures as soon as we return. (Well; maybe, the computer has not been too cooperative. So, right now I am shutting it down for the next ten days and do not plan on spending another minute worrying about it) Leslie

The following is an article I was asked to write for,"The Family Pulse" magazine. It was published for their December issue. Could I have imagined composing my thoughts about coping with my child’s life threatening illness a year ago? Never! Sadly though, I am doing just that. On December 17, 2007, our amazing daughter Kristin was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, A.L.L. Shortly after she began her junior year of high school, Kristin began to have difficulty finishing her cross country races. In December she experienced sudden and excruciating pain in both knees. After a frantic visit to our family doctor and some lab work, Kristin was quickly diagnosed with A.L.L. and immediately admitted Children’s Hospital Oakland. With Christmas a week away, plans for the highly anticipated holiday quickly vaporized. Presents were left unwrapped, sugar cookies were abandoned on the kitchen counter, plane tickets to visit family across the country were unused, and lonely decorat...

Kristin's visit went well yesterday. As we walked in her demeanor quickly changed for the worse. I will explain why shortly...She had a check up and then her push of Vincristine. In the past she had gotten this through the broviac catheter which is painless. Well...we said good by to the catheter last week. Consequently all chemo will now be given intravenously. They have to use the back of her hands for labs and chemo now as the other veins are weakened. On the first try her vein blew and they had to try the other hand. The tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto the table. She was quiet and held still accepting what needed to be done. These children are amazing!!!! As we walked out she said she was sorry for being grouchy. She told me when we got there, she began to think about the procedure, that it would hurt, and she just did not feel like being nice. I said that that was okay and you do not ever need to apologize for that!!!!

Kristin planned and arranged to have friends over for the big game. Evidently she is quite the little party planner. They all had a good time and enjoyed all their junk food and having the house to themselves. They even cleand up! I am grateful for these young people and their friendships. Little do they know how much they can help when it comes to the healing process. Then again, do we ever really know the far reaching depth that friendships really have on the human spirit and it's innate ability to heal?