Weak kidneys, strong heart

She hadn't been feeling well that day. Tired and dizzy, she slept for hours on end. When she started coughing up blood, her parents decided it was time to take her to the hospital.

In the emergency room, doctors checked her blood pressure and ran X-rays. Though they didn't immediately explain to 10-year-old Paula Artis what was going on, she could sense that something was seriously wrong.

Seven years later, Artis is now a senior. After being diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure, she is on dialysis. According to the National Kidney Foundation, 20 million Americans have some form of kidney disease.

An active and healthy person most of her life, Artis says that at first it was hard to believe she was so sick. "It came as a really big shock," she says.

Examiners sent Artis to Children's Hospital and recommended that she start on dialysis immediately. She began with hemodialysis, a treatment that acted as a substitute for her failed kidney functions and required large quantities of blood to be pumped out of and then back into her body in order to properly clear it of waste. "It makes you feel really tired," she says.

The first few months were bewildering for Artis and her family. No one knew how to react. Artis's mother had an especially hard time dealing with her daughter's health problems. "My mother is a very emotional person," says Artis. "It was really hard for her."

Coming to terms with her illness was challenging for Artis as well. At only 10 years old, she could barely grasp the impact that the disease would have on her life. "I didn't understand that it was something that would stay with me forever," she says.

Soon, her life began to change so fast that her mind raced to keep up. School, friends and fun took a backseat as Artis concentrated all her efforts on simply staying alive. She couldn't come into contact with anybody who was sick, which limited her social life, and had to watch what she ate.

Artis also began a strict new regimen of medicine, which proved difficult because she hates swallowing pills. "I went from having to take no pills to four or five a day," she says. "Liquids, pills, tablets - it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do."

Though she was still struggling with kidney disease, Artis entered high school determined to graduate and make the best of her situation.

Artis stopped hemodialysis after she received a kidney transplant, which she had for three years. When the kidney failed, she started peritoneal dialysis, which she could undergo at home.

Dialysis initially meant she had to miss school, and Artis stayed home for months at a time, exhausted by the treatment. She had trouble catching up with work in her classes and keeping up her grades. Tired of feeling helpless, she decided it was time to fight back.

She'd always particularly loved cheerleading, which she first tried at a local recreation center as a child. In her junior year, Artis tried out and made the team. For her, cheerleading became an outlet. "It keeps me focused," she says. "I think it's kind of a getaway."

Unable to do stunts, she worked as a backer, helping to catch her friends when they did their flips. Still, cheerleading sponsor Roxanne Fus considers her a solid member of the team. "She's strong and quick, eager to learn," Fus says. "She's very enthusiastic." Artis won the Sportsmanship Award last season.

Fus says she is still astonished by the way Artis has been able to triumph over adversity. "You look at her and wonder how she could have so much spirit," she says. "You wouldn't ever know, just seeing her, what she was going through."