Kristin "Kourageous" Katich

Things have been wonderfully quiet the last two weeks. Kristin had labs done and her meds are being bumped up to 100%. I called the student health center for results and talked to someone who normally does not report them. Based on those results, her ANC is only 1364. These results were wrong....which I suspected when he said her platelets are high at 17. Salt Lake called Kristin and said her ANC is in the 3000 range and that her meds need to be bumped. At those counts, yes they do. So, at 1:21 a.m., with the preface of " I know you are sleeping but ," Kristin sent me a text letting me know the status change. Given the time change, it was 2:21 a.m. her time.....I know, what ever could she be doing at that hour! Having FUN. Good for her :-) She is very concerned about another neutropenic episode and the ensuing consequences. I do not blame her one bit as they have landed her in the hospital one too many times with some serious complications. shingles, pseudomonas, etc.... I

Eric, Kristin, Cody and Wyatt Look at that hair!!!!!!! Well, Kristin's lp with intrathecal methotrexate and push of vincristine went well. Her labs were up, consequently her daily oral meds were increased to 75%. This is what we expected. I am keeping my fingers crossed this will not make her counts go in the you-know-what again. One truism throughout maintenance is that she cannot tolerate the oral meds at 100%. Lets not go there again please. After our doctors consulted with the head of the study that Kristin is on, it was determined that she would be given vincristine at only 50% and then increased to 75% to give her feet some time to recover. Vincristine has been brutal on them. (If you could see them, you would be amazed that she can even walk) They need a rest and at only 50% the effects are still bad but not as crippling as when she is given a full dose. I hope that these side effects are not permanent. We have been told that most likely they are not. As much as we hate