Kristin "Kourageous" Katich

Kristin and Tia Speirs in the new wing of Renown's new Children's Hospital. She was the second patient to recover in the room. It is beautiful. Kristin had labs done Tuesday in preparation for her clinic visit on Thursday. Her counts, particulary the ANC needs to be above 750 in order to proceed. Maintenance consists for cycles of 84 days of meds beginning with an LP and intrathecal methotrexate on day 1. This is repeated until she reaches the one year mark of beginning maintenance which should be approximately April 2010. (umm, I think that is correct) She just completed the first 84 days. Hot Dog! I called to get lab results on Wednesday. HGB 13.7, WBC 1.7, PLATELETS were clumped so they could not be calculated! That is a mistake on LabCorps part and has nothings to do with Leukemia. Her ANC was 680. What does all this mean? So close, but no chemo unless counts come up ..... So, the plan was to have Kristin go back to LabCorp and repeat labs as early the next morning as poss...

Early, I mean very early yesterday morning, Kristin woke us up to say she wanted to go running. In my sleepy head, I was thinking she should go to the gym instead and did not voice my thoughts. So, off she went without a thought and I regreting I had not spoken up. An hour later she returned with two very bloody knees and hands.The pained look on her face said it all. Ouch! With blood dripping down her legs, I put her in the shower to carefully cleanse the dirt filled wounds with soapy water. The best part of the story is that she was proud of herself for running an entire mile without stopping. Being happy for her was a given, but I did recommend that she stick to the gym until she is more stable and the effects of vincristin have worn off. Chemo has been a ravenous wolf on Kristin's body. She has worked very hard at reclaiming what Leukemia has taken from her. She is bound and determined to claim her former strength, muscle tone, and agility. I say, GO GO GO SPECIAL K!

Linda, thanks for entrusting the car to Darren! Kristin and long time friend, Darren Lasko Well, prom has come and gone....I guess I am feeling a bit blue and lamenting over the fact that I will not have another opportunity to fuss over Kristin going to school dances. The whole process has been a bit of a bonding experience for us. I recall each dance, dress, flower and hair style clearly. Never the less, I have got some indelible memories that is for sure! Last year it was quite a feat to get off to the dance. It took many of us to make it happen. Reading back to this time last year made me shudder. She was going through so much at that time. I found it amazing that she was even able to get dressed.

Kristin was the fortunate recipient of a scholarship from the local Ronald McDonald House. The well planned and anticipated event was held at The Sienna . We are indebted & appreciative to our community for working and donating generously to this worthwhile foundation. thank you thank you thank you thank you !!!! p.s. I read back to where we were last year... yikes! Little did we know just how bad things would get It was a good thing we did not know how wicked the storm really was! What a year it has been.I love to see that smile because she has so much to look forward. Even with another year of chemo, there is still soooooo much to smile about .

I failed to mention Kristin's last clinic visit the other day. Probably because it was uneventful. She received vincristine in her hand and has started the 5 days of prednisone along with the yummy cocktail of 6-MP, methotrexate and bactrim. Her recent labs are as follows: WBC 1.7, HGB 13, PLATELETS 290, ANC 697. Her anc and wbc are down, but they said that this often happens after a virus. I hope they do not go down any further , as any neutropenic episodes will be very difficult right now as she tries to finish up high school! Friday left her feeling on the "yuck" side. Staying home and lots of bed rest seemed to remedy things some what. Even so, throughout the weekend she seemed to wish for better days. Can't say I blame her one bit, I find myself "wanting" for the better days many times. There seems to be a bit of confusion about whether or not her meds are suppose to be adjusted. I am sure Oakland will call shortly. Her next appointment is not until...

Months ago Dr. Hastings invited me to hear Dr. Bleyer speak if she could arrange for him to come to Reno. Her efforts came to fruition and Wednesday night I was able to hear him speak at Rapscallions.(yes, yumm-o) He spoke to a group of doctors, nurses on A.L.L. specifically focusing on adolescents and young adults. I ate up every word he said and found it fascinating. With what is going on around the world concerning advancements in A.L.L. treatment, France is the place to be. Hands down, they are the front runner in this race. Although France does not have an obesity problem like we do here in the states, they are are making great strides in furthering treatments regimes for young adults. (obesity greatly inhibits positive outcomes for patients with leukemia) This is not to say that treatment for patients in the states is inferior, but clearly they are doing amazing things. It is well known that adolescents and young adults, even up to age 40, fair much better being treated on pediat...