Nick's First Race!!!

Hello everyone, we are just checking in as the count down to the kidney donation continues. Today there was a Fun Run Jamboree for the kids and Nick wanted to enter so off we went. He ran 1.1K (thats about .7 miles for you non-metric types) in the kindergarten and 1st grader group of about 75 kids. He finished 4th! He was thrilled and told me ' Dad it was uphill almost the whole way'. Its fun to watch them grow up and become so much more capable. In fact the other day KM saw that the mtns had disappeared behind the clouds and she said 'hey kids look, the mountains disappeared.' Nick replied with an exasperated 'Mom we're Alaskans we know that mountains don't disappear'. Yes, they keep us laughing all the time, at least when we aren't beating our heads against the wall and screaming at them.

Its strange I feel like our lives are so full and busy, yet when I sit down to write about it I have nothing to say, at least nothing that I think anyone will want to read. So I'll keep it short. Its a typical AK fall. Lots of rain, gorgeous colors from all the leaves so the whole valley is yellow with some oranges and light red up high. Its cooling off quickly highs are around 50-55F and there is snow on all the mtn tops around our house. We still have lots of sunlight, almost 11 hrs and 50 minutes today. But winter is coming and I can't wait, I even bought some new ski boots yesterday!! Tomorrow we are going to a ski swap to outfit the kids and my neighbor is already tying to set up snowmobile (in AK they call them snowmachines, I always thought that a snowmachine was something that made snow, but what do I know) trips with me.

I hope that all is well in your world and we'll 'blog' again soon. I promise we will have much more timely updates during and after the surgery. Take Care, Storm

KM's day of fame

Hello everyone, we woke up this morning to the phone ringing off the hook and all of our friends calling to tell us about the paper. Kerry's picture made the FRONT page of Alaska's largest daily paper. I scanned it in along with the article which is hilarious. KM has been a great sport about the whole thing. It is pretty darn funny, KM talked with the reporter the whole time but had no idea that she was actually being recorded and photographed for the center of the front page. Other than that it was just your standard day, nothing exciting. We'll post more soon. Take Care, Storm

Hello Everyone, its Storm. I guess that its my turn to 'blog' so here goes. Alaska has been a ton of fun so far. At right are a few pics from this summer, Alex holding one of the Iditarod sled dog pups and the bounty that Doug (Kerry's Dad), Dick (My Dad), and I caught on our fishing charter. The fish are Halibut, Silver (Coho) salmon, one Goldeneye rock fish and one Lingcod. The fishing up here is out of this world and I highly recommend it to everyone who even remotely likes to fish. Its not really fishing its more like 'catching'.
Our summer was filled with learning to fish, visiting all sorts of parks, sights, and animals, and enjoying all of our guests. It was really awesome to have so many people come visit us and we had a great time seeing everybody. I like to think that everyone comes to visit just because we are so cool and fun to hang out with, I guess in reality it might have something to do with where we live and all the activities available, but I choose to believe the first reason!
By now if you are reading this blog you are aware that I am donating one of my kidneys to my cousin Kevin Spence. His kidneys have failed and in fact have been removed so he is currently surviving on dialysis. Luckily in his situation a new (donor) kidney will not be affected by the ailment that damaged his own kidneys, so he should be feeling a lot better after the surgery and can expect the 'new' kidney to last around 20 years or so. Anyone who has spent any time with me knows that I really don't like hospitals so I am not really looking forward to that part of this whole evolution. If things go well, and there is no reason to suspect that they won't, I should have to spend about 36 hours in the hospital for the donation procedure. Then it will be a few weeks of minimal activity to recover from the surgery. Its going to be done laproscopically, which means using cameras and small incisions so the recovery time should be faster. Living with one kidney is not supposed to be a big deal. One is plenty to handle the body's needs and I shouldn't be restricted in any way. They did recommend that I avoid heavy contact sports so as to minimize the risk of damaging my remaining kidney. So I guess my dreams of playing on an NFL team or becoming a freestyle motocross rider are shot but I don't suppose those were too realistic anyhow. A question that I get a lot is what if due to some stroke of extraordinary bad luck my remaining kidney were to fail due to injury or disease? Well then I would automatically jump to the top of the waiting list for a donor kidney and most likely have one in a few weeks. I won't lie to you, its a scary prospect undergoing a surgery to remove an organ when nothing is wrong with me. However the risks are extremely low and this way my cousin will be able to live a normal life rather than the less than optimal existance on dialysis 3-4 times a week. Truth be told I would much rather help someone by jumping out of a helicopter and swimming through miles of freezing water or being stranded in a mtn pass and having to hike home, but that's not the sort of help that my cousin needed so here we are. I for one will be very happy and relieved when its all over and I'm out of the hospital, and I'm sure that Kevin will be too. And as much as I am not looking forward to being cut open, it does feel really good to be able to help my cousin and good friend who is in need.
I believe that is all for now, thanks for looking and we'll post more soon. See ya, Storm

From the Beginning

OK, for those of you with some questions....Storm is PERFECTLY healthy!!! He is a textbook case of health, and we are extremely thankful for that; Storm's cousin will be receiving Storm's kidney on Oct 10th at the UCLA medical center. My brother Kevin is not the Kevin in question. He and his family are happy and healthy as well. (For which I am also thankful.) SO that is really all there is to it. Storm is the LIVE donor, not the recipient and we expect him to be equally healthy on Oct 11....but with some anticipated discomfort.

Here is a picture of the boys riding their bikes at Nick's school in June and one of our friendly neighborhood brown bears...just kiddin', they live at the conservation center; but we really do have a brown bear that lives around the house. He is more evasive than the black bear that I have pictures of walking through our neighbor's back yard. (Why don't I post them you say? I have to find them first.) Also, I know you think that I can't remember the bears' name and that I should call them Grizzlies, but Alaskans only say brown and black (and Kodiak, if you live on that island). I do not know why, I just do what I am told. :)

Have a good day! Love, Kerry

Update

Storm made it back from his second trip to LA to ensure that everything will go smoothly in Oct. He found out some new things and rec'd further instructions....like not drinking soda or any other carbonated fluid for two weeks prior to the surgery. It is a very good thing Kevin is not depending on me for an organ because the moment I hear "no diet coke" I'm out! :) The next great piece of news is Storm will be on a clear liquid diet for 48 hrs before surgery.Forty-eight hours!?!?!? (Not NPO after midnight?) Can you imagine traveling 6+ hours on a plane with no food?! I would go postal. I had pictured us going out for a nice dinner in LA and whooping it up a little; enjoying our two nights (before the donation) without the kids....but that is not to be. Clear liquids and Go-Litely (anyone familiar, anyone....Ferris?). I will not elaborate, just know that there is nothing "Light" about Go-Litely. Here is a picture of the kids...just to prove we have a few. Hope all is well, and here is a public shout out to Hank Belz for inspiring me to get this page started....of course I still failing to get the timeline on here....

Good Night, Kerry (KM)

Yes, there is a real cow hide on the back of the couch. My parents bought that for me in MT in 1993...the kids think it is funny. That is my Dad in the background. Alex (4), Nick (6), Max (2).

Info

You can click on the photos to see them in a full screen, then click on your back button to return to the blog page.

Termination Dust

Well, it is finally here...."termination dust" (snow). Yes, I too thought it was ridiculous to say "ter-mi-nation-dust" instead of snow; but I have since been told that when the first snow appeared on the peaks that was when the early Alaskan Railroad would stop the train service through the high mtn. passes. So first snow, termination of train services and supplies until spring, better stock up!! Today was a crystal clear, fall day; beautiful!!! Storm is off to LA to auto-donate blood for the surgery. It is not expected that he will need blood for this procedure, but if in case it is needed, they will have his very own, so that is good. He also has another appt with the docs to double check that all is well and another appt with admissions to get the paperwork out of the way. He and Kevin Spence are probably having a great time down there right now. I am going to try and get some pictures in here...let's see.

OK, that worked out. I am not sure these are the best pictures, I had to choose from 4cm pictures with no reference numbers...always learning. So there is our house, our back yard with the swing set that Storm and his Dad built this summer, a view of Eagle River Valley looking back at all of you; east! And one of the snow capped summits. This place is so pretty. Thanks for coming to see a little part of our world. Hope to talk to you all very soon.

Love, Kerry

Name Change

Storm thought "Northern Chaos" was a more fitting title to this blog....

Still working on it....

Good Morning! Thank you to Pat and Shannon for their notes! I am going to try and get a photo on here....how come every 13 y/o in the country can do this?

Hey I DID it!!!! I am sure you would rather see the boys, but the moose is appropriate too. More later. Much love, Kerry

Just getting started

Hello! I thought I would try and set up a "blog" and get up to speed with the tech generation. Man I am getting old; I thought I was still hip!! My main intent is to have a place for everyone to find out how things are going once Storm and I get to LA for his kidney donation. I have no idea if I will have access to computers, but most of the big hospitals do provide that now for families, so I bet our chances are good.

It is late, I have just returned from my second day of work; evening shift on the psych ward! Yesterday I drew a picture and today I played a game....they actually PAY me REAL money for this! Anyhoo, my point is that I will try and insert a picture just to see if I can....then I am going to bed. Tomorrow is a trip with Alex's preschool to the U-Pick-It farm and another evening at work for me. Maybe I can make a clay ashtray...

OK, I apparently cannot get a picture to work at this time. Who knows if it is me or the "system"....more later.

Love, Kerry