this is continued from the- four great nights of dialysis in a row;however a few nights ago at the beginning of dialysis it was extremely painful and pinching very uncomfortably. iam getting better and better each day! i am also catvhing up in my classes and have been trying to go to my seminary(bible class) at least once a week. i love all of you adn thank you for all the comments and concerns!! love love
karina

hello hello! well last week i worked hard with my tutor so that i could get friday off with her since nicolle my sister had thursday and friday off. on wednesday i went with my parents to parent teacher conferences and we figured out how i wuold be graded and how everything else will work out. then on thursday my moms mom flew in from utah and left earlier today. it was so good to see her and i think it was good for her to see me:)! then later that evening i went with my dad and nicolle to the soup kitchen in denver for one of nicolles club(amnesty international). we helped pick up food trays and wiped tables, it was such an experience of a lifetime! so incredible to be serving and just loving others! then the next night us three, my dad and sister and i went to a jazz concert to see mindy abaire play saxaphone at the soiled dove underground, then we went to dinner. it was so fun. the next night on satruday i went to a barndance and had fun! it was quite a weekend! also on saturday we went to my dads parents house in golden and nicolle and i went through furs and dresses and vintage hats and jewelery of my grandmas and had fun dressing up! on sunday after church my grandma and my parents and i went to on a drive in teh mountains. ive continued to keep giving myself shots 2wice a week. also we have had four great

Well, I had Clinic this week and my levels are improving and i can now have peanut butter and/or chocolate two times a week (that is really great news!) I have another medication added to my list; Vitamin D. Now i take about 5 pills at night and 4 in the morning. At the hospital i met a 15 year old boy who has been on home dialysis since last April. He told me about a camp during the summer for "kidney kids" that i might be able to go to next summer. It was really nice to talk with someone else who has gone through the same thing that I am going through. I was able to attend a religious class (seminary) again, which was nice. Friday night i attended the HHS Homecoming Game, but it got cold so my sister and I and a few friends drank hot chocolate and watched Pocohontas. Then, yesterday, i went to a fun fondue party at my friend's house. I am still working hard at catching up in school. My tutor is a very nice lady.

Hello, this past week I started with my tutor from school. I get a lot of work from my teachers but my tutor is really nice and whenever i don't feel well I don't have to do the work. I had my blood drawn for the labs and we hope that my hematocrit level goes up. I feel like I've had my blood drawn everyday but I'm getting used to it. My dialysis has been going well but the past few nights the low drain alarm has been going off which means that it hasn't been pulling enough fluid out of me, it sometimes pinches me when that happens and it's extremely uncomfortable for me. On Friday night I went to the Jamnesty benefit concert for the Dalit freedom network that my sister Nicolle was in charge of. After that I had fun playing night games with my friends, it seems when I'm with my friends i forget about all of this for a little bit. My dance teacher invited me to help assist her teach a pre-k dance class. It was really cool to be back at the studio and see all my old friends. On saturday morning I got a great surprise. My cousin Angela flew in from Utah to be with me this weekend. We went to see a movie last night, it was so fun to be with my cousin. Today we watched 3 musicals we also made chile rellenos. Tomorrow we go to the childrens hospital for clinic to talk with my nurses and doctors to review my progress and theropy.

I am so sorry i havent blogged in such a long time but for now on i am only going to blog once a week or so, there just isnt that much of anything new going on at this time and if there is i will definately tell you all. well this week i have mostly just slept and wached many many movies. My ankles and knees are still a bit swollen from extra fluid but they decreasing everyday. i only have to give two shots a week to myself now!! yeah!! and my levels are all looking much stronger and starting to stabilize. my actual kidneys are also somehow miraculously working at a higher percentage. at first they were 3% working and now they are 9% working! we dont really understand what that means at the moment for my future but anything can happen! yesterday my mom and i went to my dads work where he teaches a class. it was good to get out. this whole experience believe it or not has been quite a blessing in my life. it has really changed my perspective on what does and doesnt matter. it has also really shown who i truly am and what my purpose here is. of course i havent figured it all out but this experience has definately made a huge impact on who i am and who im going to be.

Today my mother and i got dressed and went to kaiser for my labs and a checkup with my regular doctor who had initially sent me to childrens hospital for the heart murmer/rub. i had two shots, one in each arm which were just vaccines like the flu shot. then i had my blood drawn for another lab. after that my mom and i went shopping at park meadows and then had lunch together. i am feeling so much better and i believe i would be going back to school already if i didnt have to get caught up with all my classes. once i get that taken care of my life should be back to normal. hopefully after the kidney transplant it should take only a few weeks of recovery for me. however i may stay in the hospital longer depending on different labs and tests and just making sure i am 100%. i should feel completely normal with the new good functioning kidney. my doctors think that i can continue or start any sports or other activities just like anyone else would. we dont know when i will be getting the kidney i have to wait at least 3 months before we even start testing for donors and other things. it can be anywhere from 6 months from now to a year or more.

well, to catch everyone up, each day has really been much of the same. Thursday night was the first night my parents had to hook me up all alone at our house... it was a bit scary! There were a few complications with my blood pressure machine and then the alarm on the dialysis kept going off in the middle of the night because somethings were wrong. i didnt feel my best that night with a cramp on my right side and air trapped in my shoulder. the next day we went to costa vida for mexican food which tasted so good! Then we went to walmart but my ankles and legs got really tight and swollen. more than ever before! that was the first time i had really acted normal walking around and everything. Friday i had many visitors and cookies and other pies and things brought over. Two of my friends actually got to see me give my second shot to myself. They were my moral support... which i needed. i also watched more musicals and movies that night. on saturday i mostly slept so that later that night i would have the energy to play night games. Night games were way fun but i did take it very easy and we mostly just sat anyways for those of you concerned. i am feeling so much better and i will be getting a tutor sometime this week so that i can go back to school and be caught up. Today, sunday, i mostly just slept and ate dinner then slept more. it was good to just realx!