Kristin "Kourageous" Katich

Hello friends, You have to LOVE technology! Without cell phones, text, fax, and the Internet, I know that we would never have been able to let Kristin be so far away. When Kristin was having the strange blisters on her feet, she was able to instantly send pictures over the phone. And, when we were dealing with the shingles, I was able to take pictures for Dr. Raphael who then forwarded them to Dr. Torkelson in Oakland. I called the student health center the other day and was able to have her lab report in front of me in a matter of minutes via fabulous faxing. Through facebook, I can catch a glimpse of the pictures Kristin posts of her new friends and their shenanigans. It is hard to let her go, but how could we not? "Living life" is what cancer patients need to do. Not "living sick." Does that make sense? So, with all the communication technology at my finger tips, it makes letting her go just a little easier. Anyway, this week has been quiet. No fever, rash, et

So, pardon the sarcasm in the title, but finally someone in Salt Lake followed through on Kristin's current state. On Monday she had labs repeated as per the doctor's orders on Saturday. The student health center checked the counts and evidently said to go ahead and resume meds, but check with Primary's first. Whoa.....wait, I thought she was possibly having an allergic reaction to something! So, Kristin, being the smart cookie that she is, did not resume her meds. She did call Salt Lake, but only left a message. Her call was never returned. She let me know she was very frustrated with how this is being handled and felt like no one cared about her since there has been no follow through over the weekend and her call was not returned. This did not sit well with me, so I made some phone calls. I finally spoke to a nurse practitioner and they said they nothing was written in her chart and there were no labs....anyho, she was concerned about Kristin's "hive/rash" a

BYU freshman, Kristin Katich, reported an odd rash on top of both feet and ankles. What appeared to be large hives seems to have alluded and perplexed the urgent care doctor, Bill Grayden, of Provo, Utah. Dr. Grayden drew labs after examining the suspicious bumps. They did not appear to be shingles. Kristin has complained that the pesky rash has spread to sides and bottom of her feet making it difficult and painful to walk. Tests revealed a dangerously low neutrophil count leaving Kristin neutropenic and susceptible to fever and infection. ANC 290, PLATES 239, HGB 12.0, WBC 1. Her parents question if the rash could be connected to the low counts and hope that it is not a sign of something more serious brewing. Sadly this episode has put a serious caboche on big plans for the weekend and Kristin was unable to attend the highly anticipated campus shin-dig. After consulting with Primary Children's oncologist, Kristin was banished to her lone apartment to reduce the chances of contrac

Kristin Katich Professor Harrison ENGL 150 29 June 2009 The Stranger in the Mirror It seemed like every classroom I had been in as a child, all the teachers would have the same inspirational posters hung on the walls. Like the one with the kitten hanging in the tree that says, "Hang in there!" Or the one with the cute little puppy that says, "Attitude is everything!" I had never given these posters much thought, except that they were something to look at while day dreaming during class. Eventually they weeded themselves into my mind, and little did I know they would have a huge impact on my life. It was raining that day, and I had been feeling unusually tired. My mom had let me stay home from school so I could rest, but just as a precaution we went to the doctor. He assumed that I had mono and asked me to go get some blood work done. I did not think anything of what the results would be as I laid there. My

What a year, what an accomplishment! thank you Mr. Brown on the jumbo tron....where's the cap? so happy to walk the walk! "What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies inside of us."

Yesterday Kristin went to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City for her vincristine iv push. Good friends Pam and Lindsay Peperone were gracious to accompany her. Lindsay is actually Kristin's roommate for the fall and winter. (This in itself is a heartwarming story that I will post soon.) Since Kristin's veins have been destroyed by the iv acyclovir, trying to find a good proved difficult. After a few futile attempts, a specialist was called in and they found success. Ironically it was the vein that she told them they should use in the first place. go figure.... She still continues with daily regime of meds as before just on a lighter dose because of her counts falling. I am sure this will be adjusted as they always are so happy to give her the maximum possible, humanly consumable, most toxic dose tolerated . All in all she said everyone was very kind and welcoming. I of course, tried to get the play by play through texting and phone. Later in the evening she so