March 16, 2025 • 46 mins
What would you do if you felt an undeniable prompting that could mean the difference between life and death?
In this episode of Latter-Day Lights, Kaitlynn Smalley shares how a series of quiet but urgent promptings guided her through a sudden life-threatening medical crisis that ultimately led to a miraculous liver transplant.
Through every challenge, she found herself led by an unseen hand—sometimes at the very last moment. Her story is a powerful reminder that God is always watching over us, even in our darkest hours.
Join us as Kaitlynn shares how these profound experiences have reshaped her faith, her perspective on life, and her calling to help others. Her testimony will inspire you to trust in the Lord’s timing, recognize the small miracles in your own life, and never ignore those quiet yet persistent promptings of the Spirit. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!
*** Please SHARE Kaitlynn's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***
To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/OeZVvG4XdeA
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott Brandley (00:00):
Hi everyone, I'm Scott Brantley.
Alisha Coakley (00:02):
And I'm Alisha Coakley.
Every member of the church hasa story to share, one that can
instill faith, invite growth andinspire others.
Scott Brandley (00:10):
On today's episode we're going to hear how
a rare medical diagnosis and aseries of miracles taught one
woman to follow the promptingsof the Spirit fully and
immediately.
Welcome to Latter-day lights.
Hey everyone, welcome back toanother episode of latter-day
(00:34):
lights.
We're so glad you're here withus today.
We're really excited tointroduce our special guest
today, Kaitlynn Smalley, to theshow.
Welcome, Kaitlynn hello.
Kaitlynn Smalley (00:44):
Thanks for having me.
Alisha Coakley (00:47):
Yeah, thank you so much for reaching out and
offering to come share yourstory today.
We always love I've said itbefore but we always love when
we don't have to do the work.
We always love when we justhear from people and we don't
have to go find you on our own.
It makes me smile too, becauseI love when people are brave, so
thanks for being brave.
Kaitlynn Smalley (01:06):
It's taken.
It's taken a little bit to gethere, but yeah, I'm glad to be
here.
Alisha Coakley (01:11):
Awesome.
Scott Brandley (01:14):
Awesome.
Well, why don't you tell us alittle bit about yourself,
Kaitlynn?
Kaitlynn Smalley (01:19):
I'm 24.
I'll be 25 in June.
I was born to my amazingparents as the miracle child.
I was the baby that broughtlight during some of the darkest
times for my parents.
My dad's mom had just passedaway and a few weeks later they
(01:42):
had found out they were pregnantwith me and I just just yeah,
I'm the one that started it all.
Um, I have five youngersiblings, three sisters and two
brothers, um, the youngest beingeight.
She'll be eight this year andthen, because I've been the
(02:05):
oldest of all of them, it's kindof brought on a caregiver role
for me and, due to that, it'sled me down the path of working
in healthcare.
I graduated high school with myCNA license and I've worked in
a various amount of fields, fromnursing to now I work OBGYN for
(02:27):
a clinic.
I spent most of my time workingin the neonatal ICU and that
was just a miracle of itself.
I want to start off by sayingdevastation kind of hit our
family in December of 2018.
My dad was in an accident whileputting away Christmas
(02:49):
decorations in our garage and hefell 30 feet headfirst into
some concrete and because ofthat, it resulted in him having
a permanent traumatic braininjury and that's kind of
affected all of me and mysiblings.
I am married, I'll be.
(03:13):
We come up on three years ofmarriage in May and I don't know
, me and my husband the way thatthings brought us together, you
know, short of a miracle itself.
Yeah, and kind of funny meetingmy husband um, he was just
finishing up nursing school andwas working as an LPN over at
(03:36):
the VA in Ogden and that's howwe had met.
And after the first date I mymom, had texted me and she was
like I know him.
And I was like wait, what youdo?
And she was like, yeah, he tookcare of your dad when he was in
rehab.
And yeah, as our families kindof became closer, we found out
(04:00):
that his mom, who is a specialed assistant teacher, she's
taught three of my siblings.
Wow, yeah, our sisters went tohigh school together, knew each
other, graduated together, andit's kind of funny.
I was on my way home from workone morning and he texted me and
(04:23):
he was like are you followingme?
And I was like what, why no?
And he's like I swear you'refollowing me and come to find
out we lived about a couple ofblocks apart from each other
this whole time.
Oh my gosh.
Alisha Coakley (04:40):
Wow, that is so cool.
Scott Brandley (04:44):
So is your husband in the medical field too
, then yeah, he is.
Kaitlynn Smalley (04:47):
He's a registered nurse over at the er
in layton and um at mckinney ininfusion.
Alisha Coakley (04:55):
So oh my god, wow.
Well, Kaitlynn, we, we want to.
We want to just give you thefloor, if that's okay.
Um, it sounds like you're kindof starting to share more about
your story, and so let's goahead and switch views and we'll
just let you continue on Allright.
Kaitlynn Smalley (05:13):
So yeah kind of yeah back after my dad's
accident, because of all thetrauma that I had endured
through that time, I made thedecision to get on
antidepressants and anti-anxietymedications.
I trialed these on and off forabout five-ish years.
(05:34):
In June of 2022, I was placedon a medication called
Lamotrigine in my primary care,called the Motrigine in my
primary care.
At the time we didn't know thatthere is a blood level that
needs to be monitored while onthis medication due to the
chance of having elevated liverenzymes.
(05:55):
I was on it for about six orseven weeks and I had gotten
very sick on it.
And I had gotten very sick onit.
So I was taken off and, ofcourse, at the time we didn't
know anything about it or thinkanything of it.
(06:18):
And then fast forward toDecember of 22.
December 17th, I had gottensick.
I went into Instacare and gottold that maybe I caught a nasty
stomach bug or mostappendicitis.
At this time I was on Christmasbreak from nursing school and I
(06:38):
didn't know that I was nevergoing to go back.
So after getting done at theInstacare, I had gone home.
Um, I texted my husband, whowas working at the time, and I
told them.
It's fine.
If I get worse I'll let youknow, um.
He had about three ish hoursleft of his shift, um, and I was
(07:00):
just going to plan on sleepingthrough it until he got home and
then see how I felt after.
A couple minutes later I hadthis feeling in my chest that I
needed to go to the ER.
I needed to get checked out.
There was something wrong, andI kind of brushed it off.
(07:22):
I called my mom, let her knowwhat was going on and I said if
I get worse, I'll call you andhave you take me to the hospital
.
I went to go lay down again andagain I felt that prompting in
my chest I need to call my mom.
And so I called her for whatcould have been the last time.
(07:45):
I didn't want to inconvenienceher as she was working, but she
just so happened to be on herway home from work and she was
working in Roy at the time andme and my husband were living in
South Ogden, so not too far.
She just hopped on the freeway,came up to get me and as soon
(08:07):
as she opened the door to ourapartment she knew something was
wrong.
I could not stand up on my ownand her and my sister had to
carry me down three flights ofstairs to the car.
To the car, wow, um, I againhad told her hey, if you just
(08:31):
want to wait with me for acouple hours while my husband
gets home, cause again she's gotfive kids at home that she's
got to make dinner for, getready for school for the morning
.
Uh, and just by the look on herface she was like no, we need
to go.
Um, yeah, so she had carried medown three flights of stairs
(08:53):
and we got to the ER.
Um, they immediately pulled meback cause they knew something
was going on.
Um, I went to Layton hospitalsER and that's where my husband
was working at the time.
If you don't know the medicalfield, they're a very, very,
very small hospital.
Mckay D, for example, they're atrauma two center.
(09:19):
We only have two trauma onecenters in Utah, that being the
University of Utah andIntermountain Medical down in
Murray, and Layton Hospital wasa trauma three.
So they didn't really know whatto do.
So they had pulled me back toone of their trauma rooms and
(09:39):
started running blood work.
They ran every test possible.
Running blood work.
They ran every test possible.
The doctor also thought it wasappendicitis because my white
blood cell count was through theroof, which is a level that
monitors inflammation andinfection.
They waited for some more of mylevels to get back and we had
(10:04):
found out that my liver enzymeswere in the 2000s.
Normal range is 150 to 200 atmost.
They ran the tests again tomake sure they were seeing
things right and between I wantto say it was maybe 10 minutes
(10:28):
give or take they had gone up to4,000.
And so at that point they hadno idea what to do.
They also noticed that myammonia level was very high.
It was in the 400s and manypeople fall into comas um,
between 150 and 200.
Alisha Coakley (10:53):
So it was over double.
Kaitlynn Smalley (10:54):
Yeah, it was over double and I was coherent,
I knew where I was, I knew whatwas going on.
Um, yeah, the entire staff hadno idea where to turn, where to
even begin treatment.
So they had talked with thehepatology team down at
Intermountain Medical and theydecided that it was best to
(11:17):
transfer me down there.
In the 40-minute drive that ittook for me to get from Layton
to Murray, my levels had gone upto 8,000.
And so they placed me into thetrauma ICU.
I was put on several medicationsfor like effect reversal
(11:42):
medications, preventativemedications.
Like effect reversalmedications, preventative
medications Um, they at the timethought that, um, it was a
Tylenol overdose, and so theywere treating me for that.
Um, I wasn't getting any better.
Within a few hours I wasn'tgetting better, and so they, um,
started me on dialysis tohopefully reverse and flush
(12:07):
whatever they could out.
I was on it until midnight andat midnight the hepatology team
came in and told my family thatthey need to get things in order
because they, at that point,had declared me in liver failure
.
Things in order, because theyat that point had declared me in
liver failure and that Iwouldn't have made it to morning
(12:33):
without needing a transplant,and so they put me on the list
with the hopes that anywhere,somewhere could bring in a liver
for me and for the hepatologyteam.
I was on the transplant list theshortest amount of time they've
ever seen.
I was only on it.
I was listed as an A1, which isthe top tier when it comes to
(12:57):
transplant, meaning thatanywhere in the country I come
first, and I was on that listfor 16 hours and they had gotten
a call that they had found aliver.
They didn't know the conditionof the liver until it had gotten
(13:20):
there and I was rushed intosurgery, come to find out.
Unfortunately, because of thecircumstance I was in and where
they needed to get some sort ofliver in me to start whatever
process to heal my body, theliver was scarred and it was
(13:44):
damaged from the person that Ihad received it from.
Alisha Coakley (13:50):
Could they still use it, or they?
Kaitlynn Smalley (13:53):
could.
And so, yeah, they had told myfamily.
When the liver had gotten in,they gave me less, less than 5%
chance of survival.
Um, and I was in for I want tosay it was six to eight hours,
(14:13):
and when I came out they saweffects immediately.
My numbers had gone all the waydown into the, I want to say
between 200 and 400, all the wayfrom 8,000.
Um yeah, it was crazy.
A couple weeks later, they gotthe biopsies back from my liver
(14:39):
and it came back positive forthe antidepressant I was on,
which was so surprising becauseI was off of this medication
from July all the way toDecember.
They didn't know that it wasstill being pooled in my liver,
my liver wasn't filtering it out.
And then, as I started torecover, we found out that I am
(15:07):
one in six people, I believe, tohave had a liver transplant due
to the side effects of thatmedication.
Um, yeah, it's.
It's not been easy.
Um May of 2023, I had startednursing school again, um, but
(15:27):
after the first day, I becameill and we found out that I was
going into liver rejection,which, again, they gave me less
than 2% chance of survival atthat rate.
And it was again thosepromptings that I felt that I
(15:49):
needed to be seen, I needed tobe checked out there, something
wasn't right.
And, yeah, telling my husbandthat something wasn't right.
He was again working at thetime, so we were living with his
parents because I couldn't beon my own for the first six
months, and so that pushed usinto having to move in with his
(16:14):
family.
Um, again, I went to thehospital and at that point they
had live flighted me back downto Intermountain Medical um and
I was put on a billion differentmedications again and I came
out of it Again with less than2% chance of survival At that
(16:39):
time.
Scott Brandley (16:40):
Did your liver start working again?
Kaitlynn Smalley (16:42):
Yeah, so I was on Tylenol for those first
couple of months of recovery,and we found out that the new
liver that was transplantedwasn't filtering out Tylenol
either, and so that was a totaloverdose, and thankfully, when I
(17:02):
had gotten to the hospital,they were able to get me on
reversal medication for that,and I was able to recover from
that um okay, again my journey'snot been easy in the slightest.
Um, because of everything thatwent on, uh, my body endured an
(17:23):
insane amount of trauma.
Um, my stomach and intestinalsystem has shut down, and so I
rely on a feeding tube and IVmedications, iv nutrition and
several other medications tojust get through day to day life
(17:43):
.
But yeah, without having thosepromptings, I would not be here
today.
I yeah, divine intervention.
That's what my mom says there'sa reason I'm here.
(18:04):
And yeah, there's there's areason I'm here.
And yeah, there's a reason I'mhere.
I'm thankful for all themedical technology that we have
nowadays, because of everythingI deal with already being on,
(18:31):
like tube feeds and everything,I'm able to work as someone else
would normally really, yeah, sois.
Alisha Coakley (18:37):
Is the um ivy and the um stomach issues and
stuff that you're having fromthis?
Are these like permanent issues?
Are they ones that hopefullywill be able to be rectified?
Kaitlynn Smalley (18:46):
we don't know right now.
Um, as of right now, it doesseem that things are pretty
permanent.
Um, but we do have the hopethat one day my, my body will
start working again.
And I mean, if not again,there's always medical
technology, there's all theseblessings that have surrounded
(19:08):
me and my family, yeah.
Alisha Coakley (19:13):
Oh my goodness, have you talked to anyone else
who's had this experience where,like where, they too have
either taken this medication andhad this, you know?
Kaitlynn Smalley (19:28):
shutdown of their liver or Not that I know
of.
Um again, I was like one in sixpeople and to have a transplant
from this medication, um, but Iwas able to go back to my
primary care and tell him hey,this is what happened, um, so
now he um, whenever heprescribes those medications, he
(19:50):
knows to monitor those bloodlevels in other people, so the
same thing doesn't happen tothem.
But, yeah, it's been crazy.
My life has been full ofblessings, full of promptings
and, yeah, divine intervention.
Alisha Coakley (20:11):
oh, my goodness, can I ask you?
Like you know, you said youkind of felt it in your chest,
like you just felt this feelingin your chest, but I, I feel
like um, I speak for a lot ofpeople when, when we get those
promptings, even the strong, wehave a tendency to rationalize
(20:31):
right, like our, our almostalways.
The first go-to for me is oh,alisha, you're, you're just, you
have an overactive imagination,like maybe you're being
prompted, being that prompted,alisha, you know, like, did you,
did you feel like that kind ofbattle or like, how can you
describe a little bit more about, like how you really knew that
that was just like as serious asit was?
Kaitlynn Smalley (20:54):
I did feel that I am the type of person
that will push off anything tothe very, very last minute.
Um, and yeah, at the time,again, my husband was working.
I was not feeling great.
Um, I told him I'm fine, I'mfine, it's okay.
You know, it's probably thestomach flu, it's probably this,
(21:16):
it's probably that.
Um, and that was when I hadgotten my first prompting to be
seen, and that was when I hadgone to Instacare and they
didn't, they couldn't reallyrule out anything and their
advice was to go to the ER aswell.
I went back home, tried to sleepit off and again, I just got
(21:41):
that feeling in my chest.
It felt heavy, it felt.
It's a feeling that I just it's.
It's hard to describe, but mychest felt heavy and, yeah, me
trying to go back to sleep, mychest was hurting so bad that I
couldn't.
Um, that was when I felt theneed to text my mom.
(22:05):
Hey, this is going on.
I don't, I could probably waitit out.
I could.
I can wait it out until myhusband gets home.
He would know better thananybody if I would need to go to
the ER or not.
Um, and then, yeah, I tried tofall back asleep, to try and
(22:27):
just sleep it off and again wasprompted to to call her that
time and tell her that I neededher.
Alisha Coakley (22:39):
And you mentioned when your mom saw you,
like she knew too.
Did you talk to her afterwardsLike did she have any type of
promptings or was it just kindof her?
Kaitlynn Smalley (22:48):
you know, just mom senses type of promptings
or was it just kind of her?
You know, just mom senses, Iguess, or, uh, a little bit of
both.
Um, it's something that we're.
We're trying to work through,the trauma of it all still to
this day.
Um, so it's not something wetalk too much about, um, but she
about um.
(23:16):
But she, she knew when I hadcalled her that I was, I was not
doing good and, yeah, when she,she had her mom's senses and I
feel, yeah, promptings herself,uh, instead of going straight
home just taking the curve offthe freeway to come up and get
me yeah, um.
Scott Brandley (23:36):
So when you know you've talked a lot, I mean
you've had a lot of difficultthings happen but you
continually talk about theblessings.
So, um, how do you, how do youstay positive when, when all
these things are happeningaround you and to you?
Kaitlynn Smalley (23:57):
um, I will say it's hard to stay positive,
especially when you know I'msitting in the doctor's office
and they've got nothing but badnews to tell me, or, um, that
they can't fix what's going oncurrently.
Um, but I just look on thebright side of things.
(24:19):
I, I'm here, I'm able to work,I'm able to help provide with my
husband, I'm able to be withfamily again, um, I'm able to
share my story with others and,yeah, I think that's how I stay
positive through it all.
Alisha Coakley (24:43):
What kind of other blessings have you seen
from this?
I mean, we have the you know,the obvious big miracles of just
having your mom be able to getoff on time and then finding out
what was going on and you,being close enough to you know a
different hospital that youcould go to to get the treatment
you needed, and then, of course, finding a liver that quickly,
even if it was scarred and notin the right condition.
(25:07):
Like you have these really bigmiracles.
Kaitlynn Smalley (25:15):
But what are some of those blessings that
you've seen since then?
Again being able to go back towork and again be with my family
, be with my husband, thepotential of building a family
in the future yeah, it'sdefinitely all the little small
(25:39):
things too.
Alisha Coakley (25:40):
Oh, my goodness, Kaitlynn, that's, it's scary.
I mean, it scares me in a way,you know, because you just never
know, like, how fast things canchange.
And the fact that, like I mean,you were predominantly healthy
up until that point, right, likeyou didn't have any other signs
other than maybe you justdidn't feel good.
Yeah, was it days or?
Kaitlynn Smalley (26:01):
uh, it was just overnight.
I was in school a week prior, Iwas fine.
And then, yeah, I wake up onemorning and I just feel sick.
I couldn't get out of bed.
(26:22):
I slept on the bathroom floorbecause every movement I would
make I would have the feeling ofcrap, I'm going to, I'm going
to throw up again.
And yeah, when it had gotten tothe point where I needed to be
seen by, yeah, instacare, um, Icouldn't take a sip of water
(26:43):
without throwing that up.
And that was when I had decidedto go and be seen and just to
follow through on thosepromptings of hey, there's,
there's something going on,there's something wrong, you
need, you need to be seen, youneed help, you need there's.
(27:05):
Yeah, there's something wrong.
And yeah, I was never reallysick as a kid.
Yeah, fairly healthy for mostof my life so what?
Alisha Coakley (27:24):
what kind of, I guess, moving forward?
What kind of things do you haveto do because you you've had a
transplant now, so I'm assumingthat requires monitoring or or
continued blood work, orsomething like what is?
What does that look like forthe next few years for you, or?
Kaitlynn Smalley (27:41):
um, so I follow my transplant team very,
very closely.
Um, I see them about everythree-ish months.
Um, in combination with my GIteam, I see my GI team about
every three months as well.
Um, I at the beginning I washaving to get blood work done um
(28:04):
day and then it went to everyweek and then every other week
and now I'm just to the pointwhere it's once a month and it's
mostly to monitor my livernumbers.
I'm on a medication calledtacrolimus and that's a level
that needs to be followed aswell, just to make sure I don't
(28:29):
have too much of it in my bodyand my body is not processing it
the same way the othermedications did.
I'm on anti-rejectionmedications for the rest of my
life.
I'm on tube feeds and IVnutrition, iv fluids, things
(28:50):
like that for now.
Hopefully in the future we cankind of start weaning off of
some of the stuff.
But, yeah, I follow manydifferent teams of healthcare
professionals.
I see probably about everyspecialty possible it feels like
(29:13):
.
So, yeah, gi, cardiology,neurology.
Yeah, hepatology.
I also get followed throughevery once in a while with the
kidney doctors that are with mytransplant clinic as well,
(29:33):
because some of the medicationsI am on can be hard on the
kidneys.
I'll probably kind of be onthat course for the rest of my
life, just following veryclosely with other other doctors
, other professionals Did youget a chance at this point.
Scott Brandley (30:02):
I was just going to say you know, at this point
in your life you've seen allthese blessings and miracles
happen.
How does that affect how youlook at life?
Kaitlynn Smalley (30:10):
That's a good question.
Life, it can be taken away in amoment.
It's something that you reallyhave to, you have to embrace.
I mean, even just going througheverything I went through with
my dad and his accident, um, hewas very, very close to death
(30:33):
and so me and him, we resonatewith each other very well, um,
and we just realize how preciouslife is and how quickly it can
be taken away.
Alisha Coakley (30:56):
Have you had a chance or, I guess, are you even
interested in finding out aboutthe person who donated their
liver to you Like I don't know?
Kaitlynn Smalley (31:02):
what the rules are with that are with with
that um.
So there are rules, I know forthe first year um, if we wanted
to contact them, we contact themthrough my transplant team, so
it'd be like I'd write a letter,they'd find them and they'd
send that letter out.
Um, okay, we've also lookedinto now that I'm over yeah, I'm
(31:27):
over two years post-op.
Um, we've looked into wantingto know more about them.
Um, we know a couple thingsjust from the, from the donor
itself.
Um, so we know that it was amale um, because of the size of
(31:49):
the liver it was almost threetimes the size of my liver um,
they know that he may have madenot so great choices in his life
that have led up to kind of thescarring that was on the liver.
Um but, yeah, we've definitelylooked into wanting to find out
(32:14):
more and wanting to thank theirfamily personally, because it's
not an easy thing to lose achild, lose a friend, lose a
parent, but because of hischoice to donate, it saved my
(32:34):
life.
Alisha Coakley (32:36):
Yeah, oh gosh, I've always struggled.
I remember back when I was ateenager and stuff, and they
make you fill out that littleyes or no, like do you want to
be an organ donor thing.
And I remember thinking back asa teenager I was like, oh, I'm
never going to do that, becauseif I do and then I get an
(32:57):
accident, then they're justgoing to want to take all my
organs, like I genuinely believethis right.
And then I had a friend in my,my twenties who told me they're
like Alisha, that's not how itworks.
They're like they actually tryeverything possible to keep you
alive and to keep you sustainedin the event that if you did
pass away, if it didn't work, um, that you would be able to be
(33:18):
viable and to be an organ donorand everything like that.
And um, and I just thought aboutlike how?
So I I know this is kind of anunintended story, but I thought
about that and I thought abouthow, like Christ is the ultimate
life giver, you know, like hegave us all this opportunity to
live again and to be resurrected, and and not only to like
(33:42):
physically live again, but tospiritually live again, over and
over through our trials and ourhardships and our sins because
of the atonement.
And I thought, you know, if, ifbeing an organ donor can give
even one family an opportunityto have someone a little longer,
then I feel like that's myresponsibility.
(34:04):
And so I've thus changed, youknow, like now I am an organ
donor, um, but I always, youknow, in the back of my mind, I
always think about that.
I always think about like ohgosh, like how difficult could
that be?
Because it's something thatyou're celebrating, obviously,
like you being able to have thatopportunity to live, but it
also comes at a cost, like sogreat.
(34:26):
You know that someone else isgoing to lose someone and and
that in and of itself, can be avery traumatic thing to have to
deal with and a different formof grief.
And so I'm just, I was justcurious, like to know you know
where you're at with thatprocess, but you're open to it.
You're open to finding them andand seeing if you can say thank
you, and yeah, I mean it's.
Kaitlynn Smalley (34:47):
It's the least I could do.
Alisha Coakley (34:50):
Yeah, oh, that's awesome.
Oh, my goodness, I I'm justyeah.
Scott Brandley (34:59):
How has this affected your faith?
Kaitlynn Smalley (35:02):
Um, it's definitely affected it greatly.
Um, there are more.
I will be honest.
There are more days than I cancount that I have hard days.
Um, even something as simple as, oh, I've got to hook up my
tube feeds for the night, orI've got to do a bag of fluids
(35:26):
for me to make it through thenext day, it's something that's
challenged me greatly.
There are times where I'm like,why, why did I go through all
of this just to still besuffering?
But then it just it's very hard, it's very hard to explain, but
(35:51):
like that feeling um, butknowing that, yeah, again,
christ, he, he suffered foreverything that I'm going
through, everything that you'regoing through, um, everything
that I'm going through,everything that you're going
through, um, I, I have the faiththat you know I will be able to
(36:14):
have a working body again.
Um, whether that be in thislife or the next, um, it's, yeah
, definitely something that hasgrown my faith um, and has
brought me closer to Christ.
Alisha Coakley (36:31):
Do you feel like your prayers have changed?
Kaitlynn Smalley (36:34):
Yeah, oh yeah.
I mean growing up, you know youhave kind of like the little
kids in a sacrament meeting thatwant to bear their testimonies
and it's all the same for all ofthem.
I kind of felt like that's howit was for a majority of my life
(36:55):
.
You know, grateful for this day, we're grateful for this,
grateful for that, and now it's,it's changed for me personally
to.
I'm grateful for my life andeverything that I go through,
everything that I'm challengedwith, um, everything to go from
(37:15):
day to day.
It's made me, yeah, very, verygrateful for everything
everything.
Scott Brandley (37:25):
I can imagine that.
I mean, yeah, like you weresaying, you have the, you have
these struggles that you have togo through every day, but you
also get to go through thosestruggle.
I mean you, you're here, you'rehere today and you get to, you
get to have today right, whichis an incredible gift, even
(37:51):
though you have to go throughthose those hard things.
You're here.
Kaitlynn Smalley (37:55):
Exactly.
Alisha Coakley (38:00):
Well, I assume too that it probably will make
you an even better healthcareprofessional too.
You know, like because now allof a sudden it it really matters
Like it mattered anyway in thebeginning when you were going
through and you're learningabout anatomy and the human body
and medications and healthcareand all that kind of stuff.
But now it's like you aregetting to see it from a
(38:22):
perspective of a patient as well, and like a very dramatic
perspective of a patient notjust.
You know, oh, I broke a leg orsomething you know.
It's not like this little thing,this huge ongoing thing.
Um, I know, when I got leukemia, same thing it was like all of
a sudden, like anatomy matteredto me and and science mattered
(38:43):
to me and medications mattered,and even like the word of wisdom
, like I started thinking, likeI really need to learn more
about the word of wisdom,because I don't know how God
designed my body, so I don'teven know what to ask for for
help to fix it.
Kaitlynn Smalley (38:57):
Yeah, exactly, and I also feel it's made me
more compassionate and morecaring towards my patients,
whether I see them one time or amillion times over the course
of months.
It's definitely made me feelfrom a patient standpoint To say
(39:21):
to somebody I know what you'regoing through.
I've been there before.
You'll make it through, you'llfind what you need.
You'll come across, you know,someone who will address your
problems and will find what youneed to help you get better.
Scott Brandley (39:45):
Yeah, well, what are you going to do with?
Alisha Coakley (39:46):
this as you move forward help you get better.
What are you going to do withthis as you move forward?
Let's say big picture 10 yearsout.
Where do you see yourself andhow do you see the growth?
What kind of things do you wantto do in the next 10 years?
Kaitlynn Smalley (40:08):
Definitely wanting to grow a family and, um
, kind of being how my mom wasto me caring, and, no, being so
close to the spirit that sheknew there was something wrong
as well, to the spirit that sheknew there was something wrong
(40:32):
as well, um, having faith to gothrough all the trials that we
endure through this life.
Um, yeah, just staying close tomy faith and looking at life as
at a different perspective is.
It's not something that's justthis simple plan.
It's life is something that canbe taken away in a moment and
(40:53):
you really really have to justcherish every moment possible.
Scott Brandley (41:03):
Yeah.
Alisha Coakley (41:12):
Well, miss Kaitlynn, thank you so much.
You know I really enjoyed, Ireally enjoyed this whole
episode of yours and I I knowit's it's a little shorter than
what our normal episodes are,but I also feel like it was just
so like boom, boom, boom, boom,boom.
Like you had so much stuff sofast happen, and and just the
way that, like you've comethrough and where you're at
right now, I, I'm really proudof you, for I don't even know
(41:33):
you, but I'm really proud of youfor just for just really trying
hard to keep that eternalperspective in mind, despite the
way that things look right now.
They're not exactly the waythat you had imagined or hoped
for, but you're still here, youknow, you still get to fight.
I um, there's a quote and Ican't remember where I read it
or heard it from.
(41:53):
But, uh, they say, um, you know, life doesn't happen to you, it
happens for you, and I knowit's hard to to feel that
sometimes, but I think you're abeautiful example of of just
that.
That life is happening for you,for you to be able to learn and
(42:13):
to grow and to to develop yourrelationship more with the
savior and to you know, really,just see the people, the models
in your life that you want to tolive the way that they've lived
, you know to to follow theirexample and everything like that
, and I just think that's, it'san amazing thing.
So I really hope that youcontinue to find health and
(42:37):
success and you know no more big, scary things.
I don't want to.
Kaitlynn Smalley (42:41):
Yeah, no more big scary things.
Alisha Coakley (42:43):
I don't want to ask you yeah, no more big, scary
things.
Kaitlynn Smalley (42:45):
We're going to listen to you here bud.
Scott Brandley (42:48):
Yeah, I agree with Alisha.
I think your story is veryinspiring Just the positive
attitude that you have and theidea that you feel blessed, and
you're constantly talking aboutbeing blessed and having all
these blessings and miracles inyour life, and I just very
(43:13):
inspired by you and I think whatyou've gone through is going to
inspire and bless a lot ofpeople's lives, even though it
is a challenge.
I think it's going to.
You're going just yourpersonality.
Kaitlynn Smalley (43:27):
You're going to be able to bless a lot of
people's lives because you'vegone through this and even
inspire them and give them hopeI had texted my grandparents
about all of this and I wantedto kind of get more of an
(43:50):
outside perspective of you knowjust my life and everything that
I've gone through.
And my grandma said you're amissionary, you were born to be
a missionary and here you areserving just as the Lord you
would want, would want you to.
Alisha Coakley (44:09):
I love that.
It's very charming.
Ah well, Kaitlynn, thank you somuch for coming on here today.
We really appreciate youreaching out and sharing your
story with us and with the restof our listeners.
Kaitlynn Smalley (44:22):
Thanks for having me.
Scott Brandley (44:26):
Do you have any last thoughts you'd like to
share before we wrap things up?
Kaitlynn Smalley (44:33):
Just follow the promptings of the spirit,
follow that divine intervention.
There's reasons we go throughthings, there's reasons that we
get put into situations andscenarios.
It's to grow our faith, growour life and, yeah, have more
faith in, in, our savior.
Scott Brandley (44:58):
I love it Awesome.
Alisha Coakley (45:01):
All right.
Well, ms Kaitlynn, thank youagain for coming on today.
We really appreciate you, andthank you to all of our
listeners as well for tuning into Kaitlynn story.
We just ask, like we do everySunday guys, please make sure
you do your five-secondmissionary work and share
Kaitlynn story.
You never know who needs tohear it and who can be inspired
(45:22):
by it.
To hear it and who can beinspired by it, and even
something as big as maybesomeone's life will be saved
from it.
You know, maybe they'll hearthe story and it'll be the thing
that clicks in their head whenthey need to follow the spirit
and they're being stubborn likeI do, and they, you know, keep
trying to justify it.
It's not that.
So you just never know.
Um, definitely share.
Share Kaitlynn story and thenjust leave a little message for
(45:43):
her and let her know what youguys thought was your favorite
part of her story.
Scott Brandley (45:50):
Yeah, and if you have a story of your own you'd
like to share it, go tolatterdaylights.
com and let's have you on theshow.
So thanks again, Kaitlynn, forbeing on, and thanks everybody
for tuning in to hear Kaitlynnstory, and we will talk to you
next week with another storyfrom Latter Day Lights.
Till then, take care, bye, bye.
Hi everyone, I'm Scott Brantley.
Alisha Coakley (00:02):
And I'm Alisha Coakley.
Every member of the church hasa story to share, one that can
instill faith, invite growth andinspire others.
Scott Brandley (00:10):
On today's episode we're going to hear how
a rare medical diagnosis and aseries of miracles taught one
woman to follow the promptingsof the Spirit fully and
immediately.
Welcome to Latter-day lights.
Hey everyone, welcome back toanother episode of latter-day
(00:34):
lights.
We're so glad you're here withus today.
We're really excited tointroduce our special guest
today, Kaitlynn Smalley, to theshow.
Welcome, Kaitlynn hello.
Kaitlynn Smalley (00:44):
Thanks for having me.
Alisha Coakley (00:47):
Yeah, thank you so much for reaching out and
offering to come share yourstory today.
We always love I've said itbefore but we always love when
we don't have to do the work.
We always love when we justhear from people and we don't
have to go find you on our own.
It makes me smile too, becauseI love when people are brave, so
thanks for being brave.
Kaitlynn Smalley (01:06):
It's taken.
It's taken a little bit to gethere, but yeah, I'm glad to be
here.
Alisha Coakley (01:11):
Awesome.
Scott Brandley (01:14):
Awesome.
Well, why don't you tell us alittle bit about yourself,
Kaitlynn?
Kaitlynn Smalley (01:19):
I'm 24.
I'll be 25 in June.
I was born to my amazingparents as the miracle child.
I was the baby that broughtlight during some of the darkest
times for my parents.
My dad's mom had just passedaway and a few weeks later they
(01:42):
had found out they were pregnantwith me and I just just yeah,
I'm the one that started it all.
Um, I have five youngersiblings, three sisters and two
brothers, um, the youngest beingeight.
She'll be eight this year andthen, because I've been the
(02:05):
oldest of all of them, it's kindof brought on a caregiver role
for me and, due to that, it'sled me down the path of working
in healthcare.
I graduated high school with myCNA license and I've worked in
a various amount of fields, fromnursing to now I work OBGYN for
(02:27):
a clinic.
I spent most of my time workingin the neonatal ICU and that
was just a miracle of itself.
I want to start off by sayingdevastation kind of hit our
family in December of 2018.
My dad was in an accident whileputting away Christmas
(02:49):
decorations in our garage and hefell 30 feet headfirst into
some concrete and because ofthat, it resulted in him having
a permanent traumatic braininjury and that's kind of
affected all of me and mysiblings.
I am married, I'll be.
(03:13):
We come up on three years ofmarriage in May and I don't know
, me and my husband the way thatthings brought us together, you
know, short of a miracle itself.
Yeah, and kind of funny meetingmy husband um, he was just
finishing up nursing school andwas working as an LPN over at
(03:36):
the VA in Ogden and that's howwe had met.
And after the first date I mymom, had texted me and she was
like I know him.
And I was like wait, what youdo?
And she was like, yeah, he tookcare of your dad when he was in
rehab.
And yeah, as our families kindof became closer, we found out
(04:00):
that his mom, who is a specialed assistant teacher, she's
taught three of my siblings.
Wow, yeah, our sisters went tohigh school together, knew each
other, graduated together, andit's kind of funny.
I was on my way home from workone morning and he texted me and
(04:23):
he was like are you followingme?
And I was like what, why no?
And he's like I swear you'refollowing me and come to find
out we lived about a couple ofblocks apart from each other
this whole time.
Oh my gosh.
Alisha Coakley (04:40):
Wow, that is so cool.
Scott Brandley (04:44):
So is your husband in the medical field too
, then yeah, he is.
Kaitlynn Smalley (04:47):
He's a registered nurse over at the er
in layton and um at mckinney ininfusion.
Alisha Coakley (04:55):
So oh my god, wow.
Well, Kaitlynn, we, we want to.
We want to just give you thefloor, if that's okay.
Um, it sounds like you're kindof starting to share more about
your story, and so let's goahead and switch views and we'll
just let you continue on Allright.
Kaitlynn Smalley (05:13):
So yeah kind of yeah back after my dad's
accident, because of all thetrauma that I had endured
through that time, I made thedecision to get on
antidepressants and anti-anxietymedications.
I trialed these on and off forabout five-ish years.
(05:34):
In June of 2022, I was placedon a medication called
Lamotrigine in my primary care,called the Motrigine in my
primary care.
At the time we didn't know thatthere is a blood level that
needs to be monitored while onthis medication due to the
chance of having elevated liverenzymes.
(05:55):
I was on it for about six orseven weeks and I had gotten
very sick on it.
And I had gotten very sick onit.
So I was taken off and, ofcourse, at the time we didn't
know anything about it or thinkanything of it.
(06:18):
And then fast forward toDecember of 22.
December 17th, I had gottensick.
I went into Instacare and gottold that maybe I caught a nasty
stomach bug or mostappendicitis.
At this time I was on Christmasbreak from nursing school and I
(06:38):
didn't know that I was nevergoing to go back.
So after getting done at theInstacare, I had gone home.
Um, I texted my husband, whowas working at the time, and I
told them.
It's fine.
If I get worse I'll let youknow, um.
He had about three ish hoursleft of his shift, um, and I was
(07:00):
just going to plan on sleepingthrough it until he got home and
then see how I felt after.
A couple minutes later I hadthis feeling in my chest that I
needed to go to the ER.
I needed to get checked out.
There was something wrong, andI kind of brushed it off.
(07:22):
I called my mom, let her knowwhat was going on and I said if
I get worse, I'll call you andhave you take me to the hospital
.
I went to go lay down again andagain I felt that prompting in
my chest I need to call my mom.
And so I called her for whatcould have been the last time.
(07:45):
I didn't want to inconvenienceher as she was working, but she
just so happened to be on herway home from work and she was
working in Roy at the time andme and my husband were living in
South Ogden, so not too far.
She just hopped on the freeway,came up to get me and as soon
(08:07):
as she opened the door to ourapartment she knew something was
wrong.
I could not stand up on my ownand her and my sister had to
carry me down three flights ofstairs to the car.
To the car, wow, um, I againhad told her hey, if you just
(08:31):
want to wait with me for acouple hours while my husband
gets home, cause again she's gotfive kids at home that she's
got to make dinner for, getready for school for the morning
.
Uh, and just by the look on herface she was like no, we need
to go.
Um, yeah, so she had carried medown three flights of stairs
(08:53):
and we got to the ER.
Um, they immediately pulled meback cause they knew something
was going on.
Um, I went to Layton hospitalsER and that's where my husband
was working at the time.
If you don't know the medicalfield, they're a very, very,
very small hospital.
Mckay D, for example, they're atrauma two center.
(09:19):
We only have two trauma onecenters in Utah, that being the
University of Utah andIntermountain Medical down in
Murray, and Layton Hospital wasa trauma three.
So they didn't really know whatto do.
So they had pulled me back toone of their trauma rooms and
(09:39):
started running blood work.
They ran every test possible.
Running blood work.
They ran every test possible.
The doctor also thought it wasappendicitis because my white
blood cell count was through theroof, which is a level that
monitors inflammation andinfection.
They waited for some more of mylevels to get back and we had
(10:04):
found out that my liver enzymeswere in the 2000s.
Normal range is 150 to 200 atmost.
They ran the tests again tomake sure they were seeing
things right and between I wantto say it was maybe 10 minutes
(10:28):
give or take they had gone up to4,000.
And so at that point they hadno idea what to do.
They also noticed that myammonia level was very high.
It was in the 400s and manypeople fall into comas um,
between 150 and 200.
Alisha Coakley (10:53):
So it was over double.
Kaitlynn Smalley (10:54):
Yeah, it was over double and I was coherent,
I knew where I was, I knew whatwas going on.
Um, yeah, the entire staff hadno idea where to turn, where to
even begin treatment.
So they had talked with thehepatology team down at
Intermountain Medical and theydecided that it was best to
(11:17):
transfer me down there.
In the 40-minute drive that ittook for me to get from Layton
to Murray, my levels had gone upto 8,000.
And so they placed me into thetrauma ICU.
I was put on several medicationsfor like effect reversal
(11:42):
medications, preventativemedications.
Like effect reversalmedications, preventative
medications Um, they at the timethought that, um, it was a
Tylenol overdose, and so theywere treating me for that.
Um, I wasn't getting any better.
Within a few hours I wasn'tgetting better, and so they, um,
started me on dialysis tohopefully reverse and flush
(12:07):
whatever they could out.
I was on it until midnight andat midnight the hepatology team
came in and told my family thatthey need to get things in order
because they, at that point,had declared me in liver failure
.
Things in order, because theyat that point had declared me in
liver failure and that Iwouldn't have made it to morning
(12:33):
without needing a transplant,and so they put me on the list
with the hopes that anywhere,somewhere could bring in a liver
for me and for the hepatologyteam.
I was on the transplant list theshortest amount of time they've
ever seen.
I was only on it.
I was listed as an A1, which isthe top tier when it comes to
(12:57):
transplant, meaning thatanywhere in the country I come
first, and I was on that listfor 16 hours and they had gotten
a call that they had found aliver.
They didn't know the conditionof the liver until it had gotten
(13:20):
there and I was rushed intosurgery, come to find out.
Unfortunately, because of thecircumstance I was in and where
they needed to get some sort ofliver in me to start whatever
process to heal my body, theliver was scarred and it was
(13:44):
damaged from the person that Ihad received it from.
Alisha Coakley (13:50):
Could they still use it, or they?
Kaitlynn Smalley (13:53):
could.
And so, yeah, they had told myfamily.
When the liver had gotten in,they gave me less, less than 5%
chance of survival.
Um, and I was in for I want tosay it was six to eight hours,
(14:13):
and when I came out they saweffects immediately.
My numbers had gone all the waydown into the, I want to say
between 200 and 400, all the wayfrom 8,000.
Um yeah, it was crazy.
A couple weeks later, they gotthe biopsies back from my liver
(14:39):
and it came back positive forthe antidepressant I was on,
which was so surprising becauseI was off of this medication
from July all the way toDecember.
They didn't know that it wasstill being pooled in my liver,
my liver wasn't filtering it out.
And then, as I started torecover, we found out that I am
(15:07):
one in six people, I believe, tohave had a liver transplant due
to the side effects of thatmedication.
Um, yeah, it's.
It's not been easy.
Um May of 2023, I had startednursing school again, um, but
(15:27):
after the first day, I becameill and we found out that I was
going into liver rejection,which, again, they gave me less
than 2% chance of survival atthat rate.
And it was again thosepromptings that I felt that I
(15:49):
needed to be seen, I needed tobe checked out there, something
wasn't right.
And, yeah, telling my husbandthat something wasn't right.
He was again working at thetime, so we were living with his
parents because I couldn't beon my own for the first six
months, and so that pushed usinto having to move in with his
(16:14):
family.
Um, again, I went to thehospital and at that point they
had live flighted me back downto Intermountain Medical um and
I was put on a billion differentmedications again and I came
out of it Again with less than2% chance of survival At that
(16:39):
time.
Scott Brandley (16:40):
Did your liver start working again?
Kaitlynn Smalley (16:42):
Yeah, so I was on Tylenol for those first
couple of months of recovery,and we found out that the new
liver that was transplantedwasn't filtering out Tylenol
either, and so that was a totaloverdose, and thankfully, when I
(17:02):
had gotten to the hospital,they were able to get me on
reversal medication for that,and I was able to recover from
that um okay, again my journey'snot been easy in the slightest.
Um, because of everything thatwent on, uh, my body endured an
(17:23):
insane amount of trauma.
Um, my stomach and intestinalsystem has shut down, and so I
rely on a feeding tube and IVmedications, iv nutrition and
several other medications tojust get through day to day life
(17:43):
.
But yeah, without having thosepromptings, I would not be here
today.
I yeah, divine intervention.
That's what my mom says there'sa reason I'm here.
(18:04):
And yeah, there's there's areason I'm here.
And yeah, there's a reason I'mhere.
I'm thankful for all themedical technology that we have
nowadays, because of everythingI deal with already being on,
(18:31):
like tube feeds and everything,I'm able to work as someone else
would normally really, yeah, sois.
Alisha Coakley (18:37):
Is the um ivy and the um stomach issues and
stuff that you're having fromthis?
Are these like permanent issues?
Are they ones that hopefullywill be able to be rectified?
Kaitlynn Smalley (18:46):
we don't know right now.
Um, as of right now, it doesseem that things are pretty
permanent.
Um, but we do have the hopethat one day my, my body will
start working again.
And I mean, if not again,there's always medical
technology, there's all theseblessings that have surrounded
(19:08):
me and my family, yeah.
Alisha Coakley (19:13):
Oh my goodness, have you talked to anyone else
who's had this experience where,like where, they too have
either taken this medication andhad this, you know?
Kaitlynn Smalley (19:28):
shutdown of their liver or Not that I know
of.
Um again, I was like one in sixpeople and to have a transplant
from this medication, um, but Iwas able to go back to my
primary care and tell him hey,this is what happened, um, so
now he um, whenever heprescribes those medications, he
(19:50):
knows to monitor those bloodlevels in other people, so the
same thing doesn't happen tothem.
But, yeah, it's been crazy.
My life has been full ofblessings, full of promptings
and, yeah, divine intervention.
Alisha Coakley (20:11):
oh, my goodness, can I ask you?
Like you know, you said youkind of felt it in your chest,
like you just felt this feelingin your chest, but I, I feel
like um, I speak for a lot ofpeople when, when we get those
promptings, even the strong, wehave a tendency to rationalize
(20:31):
right, like our, our almostalways.
The first go-to for me is oh,alisha, you're, you're just, you
have an overactive imagination,like maybe you're being
prompted, being that prompted,alisha, you know, like, did you,
did you feel like that kind ofbattle or like, how can you
describe a little bit more about, like how you really knew that
that was just like as serious asit was?
Kaitlynn Smalley (20:54):
I did feel that I am the type of person
that will push off anything tothe very, very last minute.
Um, and yeah, at the time,again, my husband was working.
I was not feeling great.
Um, I told him I'm fine, I'mfine, it's okay.
You know, it's probably thestomach flu, it's probably this,
(21:16):
it's probably that.
Um, and that was when I hadgotten my first prompting to be
seen, and that was when I hadgone to Instacare and they
didn't, they couldn't reallyrule out anything and their
advice was to go to the ER aswell.
I went back home, tried to sleepit off and again, I just got
(21:41):
that feeling in my chest.
It felt heavy, it felt.
It's a feeling that I just it's.
It's hard to describe, but mychest felt heavy and, yeah, me
trying to go back to sleep, mychest was hurting so bad that I
couldn't.
Um, that was when I felt theneed to text my mom.
(22:05):
Hey, this is going on.
I don't, I could probably waitit out.
I could.
I can wait it out until myhusband gets home.
He would know better thananybody if I would need to go to
the ER or not.
Um, and then, yeah, I tried tofall back asleep, to try and
(22:27):
just sleep it off and again wasprompted to to call her that
time and tell her that I neededher.
Alisha Coakley (22:39):
And you mentioned when your mom saw you,
like she knew too.
Did you talk to her afterwardsLike did she have any type of
promptings or was it just kindof her?
Kaitlynn Smalley (22:48):
you know, just mom senses type of promptings
or was it just kind of her?
You know, just mom senses, Iguess, or, uh, a little bit of
both.
Um, it's something that we're.
We're trying to work through,the trauma of it all still to
this day.
Um, so it's not something wetalk too much about, um, but she
about um.
(23:16):
But she, she knew when I hadcalled her that I was, I was not
doing good and, yeah, when she,she had her mom's senses and I
feel, yeah, promptings herself,uh, instead of going straight
home just taking the curve offthe freeway to come up and get
me yeah, um.
Scott Brandley (23:36):
So when you know you've talked a lot, I mean
you've had a lot of difficultthings happen but you
continually talk about theblessings.
So, um, how do you, how do youstay positive when, when all
these things are happeningaround you and to you?
Kaitlynn Smalley (23:57):
um, I will say it's hard to stay positive,
especially when you know I'msitting in the doctor's office
and they've got nothing but badnews to tell me, or, um, that
they can't fix what's going oncurrently.
Um, but I just look on thebright side of things.
(24:19):
I, I'm here, I'm able to work,I'm able to help provide with my
husband, I'm able to be withfamily again, um, I'm able to
share my story with others and,yeah, I think that's how I stay
positive through it all.
Alisha Coakley (24:43):
What kind of other blessings have you seen
from this?
I mean, we have the you know,the obvious big miracles of just
having your mom be able to getoff on time and then finding out
what was going on and you,being close enough to you know a
different hospital that youcould go to to get the treatment
you needed, and then, of course, finding a liver that quickly,
even if it was scarred and notin the right condition.
(25:07):
Like you have these really bigmiracles.
Kaitlynn Smalley (25:15):
But what are some of those blessings that
you've seen since then?
Again being able to go back towork and again be with my family
, be with my husband, thepotential of building a family
in the future yeah, it'sdefinitely all the little small
(25:39):
things too.
Alisha Coakley (25:40):
Oh, my goodness, Kaitlynn, that's, it's scary.
I mean, it scares me in a way,you know, because you just never
know, like, how fast things canchange.
And the fact that, like I mean,you were predominantly healthy
up until that point, right, likeyou didn't have any other signs
other than maybe you justdidn't feel good.
Yeah, was it days or?
Kaitlynn Smalley (26:01):
uh, it was just overnight.
I was in school a week prior, Iwas fine.
And then, yeah, I wake up onemorning and I just feel sick.
I couldn't get out of bed.
(26:22):
I slept on the bathroom floorbecause every movement I would
make I would have the feeling ofcrap, I'm going to, I'm going
to throw up again.
And yeah, when it had gotten tothe point where I needed to be
seen by, yeah, instacare, um, Icouldn't take a sip of water
(26:43):
without throwing that up.
And that was when I had decidedto go and be seen and just to
follow through on thosepromptings of hey, there's,
there's something going on,there's something wrong, you
need, you need to be seen, youneed help, you need there's.
(27:05):
Yeah, there's something wrong.
And yeah, I was never reallysick as a kid.
Yeah, fairly healthy for mostof my life so what?
Alisha Coakley (27:24):
what kind of, I guess, moving forward?
What kind of things do you haveto do because you you've had a
transplant now, so I'm assumingthat requires monitoring or or
continued blood work, orsomething like what is?
What does that look like forthe next few years for you, or?
Kaitlynn Smalley (27:41):
um, so I follow my transplant team very,
very closely.
Um, I see them about everythree-ish months.
Um, in combination with my GIteam, I see my GI team about
every three months as well.
Um, I at the beginning I washaving to get blood work done um
(28:04):
day and then it went to everyweek and then every other week
and now I'm just to the pointwhere it's once a month and it's
mostly to monitor my livernumbers.
I'm on a medication calledtacrolimus and that's a level
that needs to be followed aswell, just to make sure I don't
(28:29):
have too much of it in my bodyand my body is not processing it
the same way the othermedications did.
I'm on anti-rejectionmedications for the rest of my
life.
I'm on tube feeds and IVnutrition, iv fluids, things
(28:50):
like that for now.
Hopefully in the future we cankind of start weaning off of
some of the stuff.
But, yeah, I follow manydifferent teams of healthcare
professionals.
I see probably about everyspecialty possible it feels like
(29:13):
.
So, yeah, gi, cardiology,neurology.
Yeah, hepatology.
I also get followed throughevery once in a while with the
kidney doctors that are with mytransplant clinic as well,
(29:33):
because some of the medicationsI am on can be hard on the
kidneys.
I'll probably kind of be onthat course for the rest of my
life, just following veryclosely with other other doctors
, other professionals Did youget a chance at this point.
Scott Brandley (30:02):
I was just going to say you know, at this point
in your life you've seen allthese blessings and miracles
happen.
How does that affect how youlook at life?
Kaitlynn Smalley (30:10):
That's a good question.
Life, it can be taken away in amoment.
It's something that you reallyhave to, you have to embrace.
I mean, even just going througheverything I went through with
my dad and his accident, um, hewas very, very close to death
(30:33):
and so me and him, we resonatewith each other very well, um,
and we just realize how preciouslife is and how quickly it can
be taken away.
Alisha Coakley (30:56):
Have you had a chance or, I guess, are you even
interested in finding out aboutthe person who donated their
liver to you Like I don't know?
Kaitlynn Smalley (31:02):
what the rules are with that are with with
that um.
So there are rules, I know forthe first year um, if we wanted
to contact them, we contact themthrough my transplant team, so
it'd be like I'd write a letter,they'd find them and they'd
send that letter out.
Um, okay, we've also lookedinto now that I'm over yeah, I'm
(31:27):
over two years post-op.
Um, we've looked into wantingto know more about them.
Um, we know a couple thingsjust from the, from the donor
itself.
Um, so we know that it was amale um, because of the size of
(31:49):
the liver it was almost threetimes the size of my liver um,
they know that he may have madenot so great choices in his life
that have led up to kind of thescarring that was on the liver.
Um but, yeah, we've definitelylooked into wanting to find out
(32:14):
more and wanting to thank theirfamily personally, because it's
not an easy thing to lose achild, lose a friend, lose a
parent, but because of hischoice to donate, it saved my
(32:34):
life.
Alisha Coakley (32:36):
Yeah, oh gosh, I've always struggled.
I remember back when I was ateenager and stuff, and they
make you fill out that littleyes or no, like do you want to
be an organ donor thing.
And I remember thinking back asa teenager I was like, oh, I'm
never going to do that, becauseif I do and then I get an
(32:57):
accident, then they're justgoing to want to take all my
organs, like I genuinely believethis right.
And then I had a friend in my,my twenties who told me they're
like Alisha, that's not how itworks.
They're like they actually tryeverything possible to keep you
alive and to keep you sustainedin the event that if you did
pass away, if it didn't work, um, that you would be able to be
(33:18):
viable and to be an organ donorand everything like that.
And um, and I just thought aboutlike how?
So I I know this is kind of anunintended story, but I thought
about that and I thought abouthow, like Christ is the ultimate
life giver, you know, like hegave us all this opportunity to
live again and to be resurrected, and and not only to like
(33:42):
physically live again, but tospiritually live again, over and
over through our trials and ourhardships and our sins because
of the atonement.
And I thought, you know, if, ifbeing an organ donor can give
even one family an opportunityto have someone a little longer,
then I feel like that's myresponsibility.
(34:04):
And so I've thus changed, youknow, like now I am an organ
donor, um, but I always, youknow, in the back of my mind, I
always think about that.
I always think about like ohgosh, like how difficult could
that be?
Because it's something thatyou're celebrating, obviously,
like you being able to have thatopportunity to live, but it
also comes at a cost, like sogreat.
(34:26):
You know that someone else isgoing to lose someone and and
that in and of itself, can be avery traumatic thing to have to
deal with and a different formof grief.
And so I'm just, I was justcurious, like to know you know
where you're at with thatprocess, but you're open to it.
You're open to finding them andand seeing if you can say thank
you, and yeah, I mean it's.
Kaitlynn Smalley (34:47):
It's the least I could do.
Alisha Coakley (34:50):
Yeah, oh, that's awesome.
Oh, my goodness, I I'm justyeah.
Scott Brandley (34:59):
How has this affected your faith?
Kaitlynn Smalley (35:02):
Um, it's definitely affected it greatly.
Um, there are more.
I will be honest.
There are more days than I cancount that I have hard days.
Um, even something as simple as, oh, I've got to hook up my
tube feeds for the night, orI've got to do a bag of fluids
(35:26):
for me to make it through thenext day, it's something that's
challenged me greatly.
There are times where I'm like,why, why did I go through all
of this just to still besuffering?
But then it just it's very hard, it's very hard to explain, but
(35:51):
like that feeling um, butknowing that, yeah, again,
christ, he, he suffered foreverything that I'm going
through, everything that you'regoing through, um, everything
that I'm going through,everything that you're going
through, um, I, I have the faiththat you know I will be able to
(36:14):
have a working body again.
Um, whether that be in thislife or the next, um, it's, yeah
, definitely something that hasgrown my faith um, and has
brought me closer to Christ.
Alisha Coakley (36:31):
Do you feel like your prayers have changed?
Kaitlynn Smalley (36:34):
Yeah, oh yeah.
I mean growing up, you know youhave kind of like the little
kids in a sacrament meeting thatwant to bear their testimonies
and it's all the same for all ofthem.
I kind of felt like that's howit was for a majority of my life
(36:55):
.
You know, grateful for this day, we're grateful for this,
grateful for that, and now it's,it's changed for me personally
to.
I'm grateful for my life andeverything that I go through,
everything that I'm challengedwith, um, everything to go from
(37:15):
day to day.
It's made me, yeah, very, verygrateful for everything
everything.
Scott Brandley (37:25):
I can imagine that.
I mean, yeah, like you weresaying, you have the, you have
these struggles that you have togo through every day, but you
also get to go through thosestruggle.
I mean you, you're here, you'rehere today and you get to, you
get to have today right, whichis an incredible gift, even
(37:51):
though you have to go throughthose those hard things.
You're here.
Kaitlynn Smalley (37:55):
Exactly.
Alisha Coakley (38:00):
Well, I assume too that it probably will make
you an even better healthcareprofessional too.
You know, like because now allof a sudden it it really matters
Like it mattered anyway in thebeginning when you were going
through and you're learningabout anatomy and the human body
and medications and healthcareand all that kind of stuff.
But now it's like you aregetting to see it from a
(38:22):
perspective of a patient as well, and like a very dramatic
perspective of a patient notjust.
You know, oh, I broke a leg orsomething you know.
It's not like this little thing,this huge ongoing thing.
Um, I know, when I got leukemia, same thing it was like all of
a sudden, like anatomy matteredto me and and science mattered
(38:43):
to me and medications mattered,and even like the word of wisdom
, like I started thinking, likeI really need to learn more
about the word of wisdom,because I don't know how God
designed my body, so I don'teven know what to ask for for
help to fix it.
Kaitlynn Smalley (38:57):
Yeah, exactly, and I also feel it's made me
more compassionate and morecaring towards my patients,
whether I see them one time or amillion times over the course
of months.
It's definitely made me feelfrom a patient standpoint To say
(39:21):
to somebody I know what you'regoing through.
I've been there before.
You'll make it through, you'llfind what you need.
You'll come across, you know,someone who will address your
problems and will find what youneed to help you get better.
Scott Brandley (39:45):
Yeah, well, what are you going to do with?
Alisha Coakley (39:46):
this as you move forward help you get better.
What are you going to do withthis as you move forward?
Let's say big picture 10 yearsout.
Where do you see yourself andhow do you see the growth?
What kind of things do you wantto do in the next 10 years?
Kaitlynn Smalley (40:08):
Definitely wanting to grow a family and, um
, kind of being how my mom wasto me caring, and, no, being so
close to the spirit that sheknew there was something wrong
as well, to the spirit that sheknew there was something wrong
(40:32):
as well, um, having faith to gothrough all the trials that we
endure through this life.
Um, yeah, just staying close tomy faith and looking at life as
at a different perspective is.
It's not something that's justthis simple plan.
It's life is something that canbe taken away in a moment and
(40:53):
you really really have to justcherish every moment possible.
Scott Brandley (41:03):
Yeah.
Alisha Coakley (41:12):
Well, miss Kaitlynn, thank you so much.
You know I really enjoyed, Ireally enjoyed this whole
episode of yours and I I knowit's it's a little shorter than
what our normal episodes are,but I also feel like it was just
so like boom, boom, boom, boom,boom.
Like you had so much stuff sofast happen, and and just the
way that, like you've comethrough and where you're at
right now, I, I'm really proudof you, for I don't even know
(41:33):
you, but I'm really proud of youfor just for just really trying
hard to keep that eternalperspective in mind, despite the
way that things look right now.
They're not exactly the waythat you had imagined or hoped
for, but you're still here, youknow, you still get to fight.
I um, there's a quote and Ican't remember where I read it
or heard it from.
(41:53):
But, uh, they say, um, you know, life doesn't happen to you, it
happens for you, and I knowit's hard to to feel that
sometimes, but I think you're abeautiful example of of just
that.
That life is happening for you,for you to be able to learn and
(42:13):
to grow and to to develop yourrelationship more with the
savior and to you know, really,just see the people, the models
in your life that you want to tolive the way that they've lived
, you know to to follow theirexample and everything like that
, and I just think that's, it'san amazing thing.
So I really hope that youcontinue to find health and
(42:37):
success and you know no more big, scary things.
I don't want to.
Kaitlynn Smalley (42:41):
Yeah, no more big scary things.
Alisha Coakley (42:43):
I don't want to ask you yeah, no more big, scary
things.
Kaitlynn Smalley (42:45):
We're going to listen to you here bud.
Scott Brandley (42:48):
Yeah, I agree with Alisha.
I think your story is veryinspiring Just the positive
attitude that you have and theidea that you feel blessed, and
you're constantly talking aboutbeing blessed and having all
these blessings and miracles inyour life, and I just very
(43:13):
inspired by you and I think whatyou've gone through is going to
inspire and bless a lot ofpeople's lives, even though it
is a challenge.
I think it's going to.
You're going just yourpersonality.
Kaitlynn Smalley (43:27):
You're going to be able to bless a lot of
people's lives because you'vegone through this and even
inspire them and give them hopeI had texted my grandparents
about all of this and I wantedto kind of get more of an
(43:50):
outside perspective of you knowjust my life and everything that
I've gone through.
And my grandma said you're amissionary, you were born to be
a missionary and here you areserving just as the Lord you
would want, would want you to.
Alisha Coakley (44:09):
I love that.
It's very charming.
Ah well, Kaitlynn, thank you somuch for coming on here today.
We really appreciate youreaching out and sharing your
story with us and with the restof our listeners.
Kaitlynn Smalley (44:22):
Thanks for having me.
Scott Brandley (44:26):
Do you have any last thoughts you'd like to
share before we wrap things up?
Kaitlynn Smalley (44:33):
Just follow the promptings of the spirit,
follow that divine intervention.
There's reasons we go throughthings, there's reasons that we
get put into situations andscenarios.
It's to grow our faith, growour life and, yeah, have more
faith in, in, our savior.
Scott Brandley (44:58):
I love it Awesome.
Alisha Coakley (45:01):
All right.
Well, ms Kaitlynn, thank youagain for coming on today.
We really appreciate you, andthank you to all of our
listeners as well for tuning into Kaitlynn story.
We just ask, like we do everySunday guys, please make sure
you do your five-secondmissionary work and share
Kaitlynn story.
You never know who needs tohear it and who can be inspired
(45:22):
by it.
To hear it and who can beinspired by it, and even
something as big as maybesomeone's life will be saved
from it.
You know, maybe they'll hearthe story and it'll be the thing
that clicks in their head whenthey need to follow the spirit
and they're being stubborn likeI do, and they, you know, keep
trying to justify it.
It's not that.
So you just never know.
Um, definitely share.
Share Kaitlynn story and thenjust leave a little message for
(45:43):
her and let her know what youguys thought was your favorite
part of her story.
Scott Brandley (45:50):
Yeah, and if you have a story of your own you'd
like to share it, go tolatterdaylights.
com and let's have you on theshow.
So thanks again, Kaitlynn, forbeing on, and thanks everybody
for tuning in to hear Kaitlynnstory, and we will talk to you
next week with another storyfrom Latter Day Lights.
Till then, take care, bye, bye.
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