Hi, I'm Kim, and I am 13 years old, soon to be 14. I created this page in the hope of shedding some much needed light on the particular disease that I suffer from. My disease is called Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (RRP). It is a disease of the airway which causes tumors to grow and obstruct the airway and voice box. If left untreated, this disease could lead to complete obstruction of the airway, requiring a tracheostomy to be able to breathe. It could also lead to death. As of October 27, 2000, I have had 88 surgeries to remove the tumors from my throat and windpipe. At one point my disease had become so bad that I had to have surgery every 10 days to 2 weeks to keep my airway open. Before that I had usually been able to go about 4 to 6 weeks between operations and a few times I have been able to make it past 8 weeks. Because of the RRP I have had to miss a lot of school. I had to miss over 40 days of school last year but still stayed on the honor roll every semester. I also can't do some of the activities I like, like cheerleading, due to my voice and breathing. Even if I get my voice where I can be heard, I can't yell too much because it could strain the vocal cords and make the RRP come back in those areas.

This Is Me! Aren't I the glamourous one? :-)

The only activity that I love to do that my mom lets me do, is rollerblading. I try to go every week with my friends. I won't let them do my surgeries on Fridays because it means that I would miss it.

I live in southern Maryland and was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital by Dr. Haskins Kashima for over 10 years until he retired in May 1999. I miss Dr. Kashima, but I see Dr. Clark Rosen at University of Pittsburgh now and he is really neat.

Each time we have an appointment or surgery my mom or dad drives us to Pittsburgh - 6 hours. Most of the time we can stay in the Ronald McDonald House, but sometimes we get in too late and have to stay at one of the hotels.

		When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up--the flames will not consume you. - Isaiah 43:2

Updated 12/03/00

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