Kidney transplant goes swimmingly
8-year-old is immersing herself in new experiences
Friday, the little girl and pals Audrey and Bethany Ahlers went swimming something that Kalee was not allowed to do for so long because she was on dialysis and couldn't immerse the port through which her blood was filtered. As the Whittier Elementary third-grader splashed and sloshed and floated in the water, her smile said good times seem finally to have arrived.
Her journey has been one of almost unspeakable heartbreak and joy.
When Kalee was born, she had only one kidney and it was malformed, never working right. When she was 18 months old, her grandpa gave her one of his kidneys. And for a while, things seemed to be all right, though she was always too small, too fragile. Then her body rejected that kidney and she went back on dialysis, three days a week, four hours a day. It made it hard for a little girl to spend much time in school, which she dearly loved. And it made her a little different from her friends, which she didn't love.
But Kalee's a sociable creature, a fighter, a stoic. She brought all those traits to bear.
And life was even more complicated than that. In 1999, when her family lived in Elko and traveled to University Hospital for treatment and dialysis, they were in a terrible car crash. Her mother's spinal cord was severed, her head severely cut. Jill Glennon was in the hospital and rehabilitation for three months. Kalee's brother Kyle, who was 13, died. Kalee's maternal grandparents, Pinky and JoAnn Herzog, took care of her until Jill, who now used a wheelchair, healed and then grew strong enough in both body and spirit to reclaim the role of mom. Eventually, Jill and Kalee moved to Salt Lake City to be closer to the clinic.
That early transplant, which had saved Kalee then, made getting a new working kidney harder. She built up antibodies it always happens with a transplant and that makes any subsequent kidney match much more difficult. That's one reason that on two different occasions they got the call that a kidney seemed to be available, a transplant imminent, followed by a call saying "never mind," says Pam Grant, a social worker at the kidney transplant and dialysis center at the U., which also has the region's only pediatric kidney dialysis program.
Kalee would show up for her dialysis and play with her "kidney friends" and watch and smile as, one by one, they got transplants and left dialysis and she stayed behind, Grant says. It must have seemed like she'd never get a turn.
Recent comments
your story made me cry
kalee | Oct. 19, 2007 at 7:42 p.m.
- Attempted murder case refiled 1:58 a.m.
- Sports on the air 1:38 a.m.
- This weekend on TV 1:38 a.m.
- Birthdays for Saturday, July 11 1:38 a.m.
- 2 men cited on LDS plaza 1:37 a.m.
- S.L. man spots stolen car — his 1:23 a.m.
- Girl critical after run-in with train 1:23 a.m.
- Probe of death treated as slaying 1:22 a.m.
- Taylorsville man arrested in robbery 1:21 a.m.
- HBO defends U. logo use in 'Love' 1:20 a.m.
- LDS seminary principal arrested
160 - Bronco collecting a galaxy of recruits
141 - Jazz talking Boozer trade?
136 - Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
123 - Jazz brass debate Millsap match
99 - Stadium of Fire flag burning was fake
94 - Fairness of BCS debated
81 - Chaffetz eyes challenging Bennett
74 - Letters: Single-payer system best
72 - Services bids farewell to Jackson
70
As more and more dads are put out of work in this economy, I've been...
The photographs are mysterious, brooding, dark. They show dimples and...
I love Millsap, and the Jazz will find a way to move Boozer and match for...
i think its childish to assume that somebody would actually want to get...
Millsap and Boozer need to stay in Utah. Millsap is Boozers backup while he...
Childish and immature? Its always easier being ignorant and presuming things...
can you use words like testimony and church leadership to critisize a...
Bro P really helped me through a tough time in my life when I had him in...
These are only allegations at present, but I hope when he goes to trial, the...
My thoughts are with the Pratt family right now. Michael I hope you are...
It is interesting that everyone who seems to be a member comments on how nice...
You presume, simply because they were gay, that they were trying to "stir...


