I've been in the hospital forever now. I can't wait to go home. At first I was nervous that I would go home and get sicker, but I am actually looking forward to being in my own room. I can't wait to see my friends. It will be nice to be able to walk in the kitchen and open my refrigerator when I want something to drink, instead of calling for the nurse (though I might call for my mom to do it for me...lol).

I guess I'm supposed to write how I feel. That's a hard one. I feel really tired. I hate to cough because it hurts so bad, but I know that coughing is probably the most important thing I can do to keep me from getting worse. I didn't have to sleep on the venti-mask (it's like a small ventilator with a face mask) last night and was off oxygen all day. That's a good thing.

I just can't wait to get new lungs. I want to know how it feels to laugh without coughing up my insides. I want to be able to walk to the bathroom without having to rest to catch my breathe. I want to be able to go to school and be a normal teenager. I want to be able to go to the mall and to the movies without oxygen. I want to dance like I used to do. I just want to live.

With nurse

Nurse checking Kaiya's breathing

NASA

Kaiya clowning around with aunt Zoe

Journal entries are listed in chronological order.