Kristin "Kourageous" Katich

As I was reading the scriptures, I have felt captivated by the following verse. Finding myself drawn to reread it many times, I felt I should post it on the blog. I have found great reassurance and trust in these words, they tell me that my cries and prayers fall upon the ears of a loving Father in Heaven. I know Kristin expresses this sentiment also as she has voiced it many times. Her faith and patience is a light that shines for me as she submits with great patience to the will of our Father.Although prayers are not always answered MY way, the burden upon my shoulders is more often than not, lightened and this load is not so heavy. " And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." mosiah 24:14

We were anxious to hear all about Kristin's freshman adventures, the people and new friends she has made, and all those first year escapades. This one is hilarious and I thought I would share it with all of you. " We were all sitting on the couch watching a movie and this guy next to me kept touching my hair. Well, I had my wig on and he did not know about it. He repeatedly said how nice and unreal it felt. So, I casually put my hand on top of the wig and started to spin it around and said, "Actually it is unreal...." The guys in the room freaked out and jumped off the couch shouting, "Whoa!" I explained the hair thing and relieved they said "Man, we thought that was your head spinning around!"

Well, Kristin has come and gone.....but our family loved every minute that we had with her. We anxiously awaited her arrival and the hugs felt oh so good! While she was here, she loved sleeping in her own bed, visting friends, having home cooked meals, wakeboarding. Her visit to the Renown Speciality Clinic went well. She had an LP with intrathecal methotrexate. Her meds were kicked up a notch because her counts have come up. They are ANC2322, WBC 5.4 HGB 13.3, PLATES 237.WOW!! She has not had those kind of numbers for a long time. So, she is now taking her daily meds at 50% which are mercaptopurine (affectionately called 6mp), prednisone, once weekly methotrexate, and weekend bactrim. I am hoping that she does not experience the myleosuppression(blood cell production suppression) issues she had this summer.It was very good to see Dr. Raphael, Tia, and Sandy. We were sad to have missed Connie, but I do believe I am having pancakes with her at the Childhood Cancer Awareness Day...

"its the sign for 'i love you'. my friend aubrey bought be new pencils and she is always flashing this sign around so i drew this for her. she also has a stage four brain tumor... like it? show dad :)" Kristin sent this text to me and I was moved....

Kristin's visit to Salt Lake with her grandfather was uneventful and that is a good thing. Her ANC was 1700 which is a very good thing. She has not had those kind of numbers for a very long time, actually since they increased her meds by 1/2 of a pill way back when. She is now back on all other meds. I am hoping that her counts will not be so suppressed in the future and these neutropenic episodes will be a thing of the past. As expected, Kristin has not felt well, especially since the infusion on Tuesday. She has started her 5 days of prednisone which leaves her with painful heartburn, an insatiable appetite and feeling awful. After staying home on Wednesday to rest and recover she spent a marathon of hours doing homework in the library. We are counting down the days until she comes home on August 14 and so is she. We get texts like, "I'm tired of eating out of a box, I miss you so much, Someone ate my Oreo's...." Ahh, the good ol' days of college!