Laura Lull: My name is Laura Lull, this is my husband Scot and we live at, Hermosa Beach California. Scott and I have been married for 10 years, Scott and I have always led a very healthy lifestyle. We love to play tennis, we also love to travel.
Last year I started feeling really, really tired, I thought I was coming down with the flu or cold or what not, ultimately what I found out was that, I was experiencing a kidney failure. I went in for a biopsy on my kidneys, spent a number of days in the hospital and then came out to face kidney dialysis for a month, as well as, 6-month course of treatment.
Scott bought me this book after I got transferred to a regular floor. It was in a package, like a little gift bag, I'm not much of a diary writer, but I opened the book and I thought to myself, you know what am I going to do with all of these pages? What happened was, the book really started to become a recording of my illness.
In it I put stickers, and a variety of drawing. So, just a variety of phrases. I started calling it My Little Blue Book. One of the nurses said, well the blood is running through the machine or something like that, and so, I drew little pictures of blood running around the page of the book. Various drawings, some done by my husband Scott who is an artist, while I was lying in the hospital bed one day, he drew a sketch of me, using colored pencils. If you're lucky enough to be at the beach, then you're lucky enough.
Scott Berrum: I was quite surprised to see her suddenly have an artistic side that had not come out, before she had this book.
Laura Lull: Why do we have to get up so early, up so early, up so early? Why do we have to get up so early, just to go to dialysis? Dialysis is a place I would rather not be, to get up so so early, I would like to be on a plane to somewhere exotic or even in a tree.
On my last day of kidney dialysis, I really wasn't expecting it to be my last day. I practically jumped out of the dialysis chair, but instead of doing that, I drew a picture of a flower and a rainbow with the word hurray!
Right now, I feel absolutely great, my kidneys are functioning normally. We've recently got a new puppy, her name is cricket. We love her to death and we really look upon the illness sort of as just a little, you know blip in the span of our relationship and in the span of my life.
My Little Blue Book was very critical in getting me through my treatment. I really think My Blue Book, for me at least, represents my strength and my courage throughout the illness. The blank pages are really just a beginning of a creative outlet that could help anyone, who is ill.
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