Because dialysis slows growth, she got smaller and smaller compared to friends her age, as well.

This year has been different. When the foundation called about sending Kalee to the concert, Jill didn't tell her until the day before. She didn't want the child bouncing off the walls. A friend flew in from Boise and the girls went in a limousine with Corey Glennon, Kalee's father, who lives in Elko, to see the concert. Then they stayed at a nice hotel downtown afterward.

Jill was home when the call came just after midnight. Michelle Ellison, the adult transplant coordinator at the U. who was on call when the kidney was matched, said they should be at the hospital no later than 8 a.m.

Jill thought a while, then called her back. "Are you sure?" she asked, the memory of two earlier calls that went nowhere on her mind. "I'm sure."

She called her ex-husband and told him, but he figured the little girls would need their sleep for what was to come. They woke up the next morning, excited about the concert they'd seen, only to learn that the surprises were still rolling in.

Aug. 26, Kalee said goodbye, she hopes forever, to the need for dialysis. And she tells her mom that with the new kidney she feels better than she ever remembers feeling before.

She's going to be in school, full time, just like the other kids. She's getting stronger every day, though she will always take a ton of medications to avoid rejection and manage her health.

"And I can go swimming anytime I want," she says excitedly.

With that, Kalee's off to the two-story-tall water slide, grinning at her friends, fearless as always.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com