human again :)

It has been a little dehumanising to not be able to do anything on my own or live life as usual. However, I am hitting a turning point in my recovery! Today was my first day back at school which was pretty big. I also went to lifetime fitness and walked almost a mile on the treadmill and got in the pool for a little! WOW now that I'm reflecting on all I did today I'm pretty impressed with myself! Way to go Kaaate! woo! I think I'm gonna continue to try to exercise everyday to gain my strength back! I also discovered at lifetime how great the pool is to test my abdominal strength without killing myself! Even when I'm just standing still and I loose my center a little I'll start to topple over! haha! It's so great to be living a little more normally lately! Still got a good bit of healing ahead of me but I'm getting more used to living the "one kidney life". OH for example, yesterday my mom subscribed to a website that emails you kidney-friendly recipes every month! TOO FUNNY! Now I'm just trying to enjoy my last two weeks of high school- wow that is crazy to believe this chapter of life is coming to a close! Thank you for all your faith and prayers in my healing! ITS WORKIN!!!

beth moore conference

Today I had the privilege of going to the Beth Moore, So Long Insecurity conference with Emilie. I've never heard her speak before or read any of her books (besides the Praying God's Word journal but I don't think that totally counts). I was really excited but didn't really know what to expect either. It was STELLAR!! Well first off, it was a 4 hour conference and I have the same attention span as my dog these days and I didn't have ONE space out moment... not ONE!!! I know that sounds stupid but thats a big deal for me while I'm on pain meds... only Jesus can captivate my attention for that long! Can I get an AMEN! haha! But the message that she gave was amazing. I kinda thought that she'd talk about body image or how "even models get airbrushed" or something along those lines but she didn't. She talked about insecurity at it's root. I loved that! She walked through Ephesians 4:17-24 and created these six statements of what a secure woman is. She talked about how insecurity was an inward destruction on ourselves... how our lack of forgiveness is a reflection of our insecurity and how our forgiveness and grace to others reflects how much we believe in God's forgiveness and grace towards us. That forgiveness point really hit home for me! Her wisdom was so refreshing! It was one of those moments like when Peter says, "You are the Christ" and Jesus says, "For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."... it was like THAT kinda wisdom; it didn't come from Beth Moore's creative thinking, but it came straight from God. mmm love that stuff! I love those things that make you feel all fresh again!

My Official Diagnosis

I just received the pathology report back from the Mayo Clinic a couple of days ago. I thought I would share my official diagnosis. My tumor is called Angiomyolipomas, which is a benign tumor. It took a while to diagnose it because there were so many abnormal and rare characteristics to the tumor. Angiomyolipomas is composed mostly of fat and some smooth muscle but my tumor was made of almost all muscle. Also, the average age of patients with this tumor is 43! This tumor is also known to almost always occur in the right kidney but mine was in the left.
On March 5th, 2010 the doctors told me I had a cancerous tumor in my left kidney... I started a blog and hundreds of people from all over the country began to pray for me... a month later I went into surgery to get my kidney removed... the pathology came back and said the tumor was benign. These are just the facts of my past couple months and there is no denying the amazing miracle that has happened. The Lord's hand is so visible! I have been fervently prayed over and felt the healing hand of God. I hope my testimony is an encouragement to your prayer life! Your prayers have been such a gift... thank you :)

PROM!!!

Last night was my Senior Prom that I have been anticipating since my surgery! I had the most AMAZING time! I went with one of my best friends, Matt Bickley, which was such a blast! Our whole class squeezed into the biggest limo in KC (literally the biggest) and drove downtown to this cool loft with an incredible view of downtown KC! We had the after party at my house and our whole class pitched in to get a spiderman inflatable! Haha it was legit... to look at... couldn't exactly jump on it yet :/ but whatevs! I stayed up till 3 am... let me repeat myself... 3AM people! This is an epic moment here! I only had a 20 minute nap that day and I lasted the whole night! I can barely make it through a quick errand to Hobby Lobby these days! Call it what you like but I believe there was some serious divine intervention here! Thank you for all your prayers! God is truly putting an amazing healing touch on my body! It might sound silly but it was nothing less than a miracle that I had enough energy to get my hair done, put on a dress, take a hundred pictures, get in a limo, go to prom, go to the after party, and ENJOY MYSELF! Thank you for praying for even the silly things like enjoying prom!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night...

The Arkansas girls! Woo Pig Sooie!


The proud parents!


It's my Senior Prom and I STILL haven't figured out how to put a boutineer on my date :/ how embarrassing


The senior girls!


It was the PAPA DADDY of all limos!!!


Sister pic! you could spot us a mile away in our obnoxiously bright colored dresses! haha

surgery and recovery pics

mmm how cute! haha


Team Kate in the waiting room! Best support system a girl could ask for!


Awake and kickin with my new Build-A-Bear, Dr. Timsten! Best gift EVER- Thanks Tim and Kristen ;)


After 5 days in the hospital I was so happy to home! Just hangin out with Matt and Em!


Haha this is Emilie and Meg helping me shave my legs! Yeah, we're that close!

don't judge a book by its cover

I am extremely guilty for judging books by their cover. I guess I'm just a really visual person :/ haha that is my grown up way of saying that it takes glitter and pop-up pictures for me to pick up a book "for fun" (o i do love a good alliteration- say "pick up pop up pictures" 10x fast... o boy the meds are talkin again... anywaaaay)! Never been much of a book worm, BUT in the past month I've received these two books that have truly been the voice of God to me!!

The first one is called Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young. This is a year long daily devotional. Young takes two or three scriptures, weaves them together, and then personalizes the language so you read it as if Jesus were talking to you. It's amazing how it brings the scripture to life. This is one of the passages my dad read to me while they were preparing me for surgery, "I am taking care of you. Trust me at all times. Trust Me in all circumstances. Trust Me with all your heart. When you are weary and everything seems to be going wrong, you can still utter these four words 'I trust You, Jesus.' By doing so, you release matters into My control, and you fall back into the security of My everlasting arms." I will never forget this passage. I kept whispering those four words as they put the breathing mask over my mouth in the operating room. This book releases the power of Scripture in a remarkable way! It has transformed my devos and made my walk with God so much more intimate! You've gotta check this book out!

The second book is called Praying God's Word, by Beth Moore. This one is a devotional journal. The Saturday after my surgery was the most painful day of my life. They had taken my epidural out that day and could only start me out on low doses of morphine. My friend, Emilie stayed up with me all night at the hospital, through all the pain and read me prayer after prayer from this book. She read prayers of strength, comfort, peace, and healing. It is what got me through the night. I love to lift up Scripture in my prayers and this book words every praise, thanksgiving, and request with such purpose. Mmm the power of Scripture! It was unexplainable how the Holy Spirit was moving in that hospital room! My unclear mind (because of the pain and morphine) was so sharply focused on the Lord that night because those prayers were laid out for me to lift up to Him. "5 stars" or "Two Thumbs Up" doesn't give this book justice!

Well I definitely didn't intend to type out a whole piece of literature for just two book recommendations but I thought it was important to share how these two books have been amazing instruments in my walk through this time. Yes, the books are lacking glitter and pop-ups but that's why it was crucial to shed some light on them :)

im alive

well, surgery went well and I came home from the hospital on Monday evening. Sorry it's been so long since I posted I was kinda busy being medicated and eating ice chips. They gave me an epidural at the hospital, which was awesome while it was in, but my right heel and my belly button are still a little numb. I'm doing better everyday. Right now, I'm walking around, I can sit down in the chair by myself, and I can now eat normal food. I am also a great entertainer when I'm on my pain meds. Spent this afternoon enjoying the beautiful day on my back porch. I am still and always accepting gifts (just kidding...sort of). My kidney's relationship status is now: "single and loving it."
To be very honest though, the doctor's have said that having a kidney removed is one of the most painful surgeries you can have. My incision is 4 inches long, which I'm told was the smallest kidney incision the doctor had made for this kind of surgery. The tumor ended up being the size of my fist, we don't have the pathology reports back yet but the doctor's were optimistic that the tumor was benign.
It's been a really long week and I overcame a lot of hurdles but God showed up in every doctor, nurse, visitor, card, meal, and flower arrangement. Your prayers have clearly made a world of difference and I ask for continued prayer for a smooth and speedy recovery, especially in time for my senior prom because I would really like to walk in heels.