Rockstar

KARS!

I think Karli "rocks" and here's why....

As a precaution Karli was put on blood thinner medication while she was in the hospital for Pneumonia/Pulmonary Embolisms this past December & January (read about it here here and here.) The plan was for her to stay on the drug for the next six months and have her blood tested once a month to make sure it was thin enough so blood clots could not form. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy and she ended up having her blood drawn once a week instead of once a month. It took about 2 months to adjust her medication to the right dosage. During this time the Doctor suggested that we take Karli to a specialist who would be more qualified to regulate her blood for the duration of her treatment.

No big deal.... or so we thought, but at her first appointment the doctor revealed to us that one of the blood tests they took while she was in the hospital had come back positive for an auto immune disorder where her blood cells fight against each other and cause blood clots to form. The Doctor also told us that there was a chance the test was inaccurate because of how sick she was when it was taken, and asked her to come back the next week and retake the test and maybe possibly rule out the disease for good.

A week later Karli went in and had her blood drawn yet AGAIN and the next day we went back to hear the results. Karli was worried and thought it was going to be bad news, but I kept reassuring her to think POSITIVE for a NEGATIVE result:D After waiting anxiously for about 40 minutes, a couple of Doctors came in and told us that the results had not come back yet and then spent the next 40 minutes telling us what to expect if she does have the disease. I was getting a little nervous and kept thinking "why are they going into such great detail and scaring us with all this information... why don't they just wait and tell us this later if necessary? After drawing diagrams and showing us charts and throwing out words that went way over our heads we finally heard something that perked our ears with excitement, "if the test comes back negative you will be able to go off the blood thinner by July 1st, maybe sooner!" I said a little prayer and kept my fingers crossed.... it didn't help.
Karli was diagnosed with Cardiolipin Antibody Syndrome the next day. We will be meeting with the Doctors next week to discuss it with them further but for now they are saying that she will be on blood thinners for the rest of her life:( She was devastated and it broke my heart to hear her cry. She is so young! Why her? Why couldn't it be me instead?

One of the things she is the most sad about is not being able to do some of the things she loves to do like snow ski and wake board:( It definitely will take some of the fun out of her Senior trip to Lake Powell.
Nobody adjusts overnight to something that will significantly impact the rest of their life, but Karli has a stiff upper lip and is dealing with this like the true Rockstar she is!