One Year Ago....

These two pictures are of Kayden prior to transplant. One was taken the day of and the other one was taken on October 26, 2006.

We were expected at the University of Utah at 6 a.m. so that we could get all of Kaydens paperwork, bloodwork and vitals all taken care of so that he could be prepped for surgery. He had been NPO since midnight and that was even pushing it. Kayden is prone to dehydration so the doctors pushed us to the very end with fluid so that he would not get dehydrated.

We were taken to the waiting room where we waited for them to call us back to take his vitals, some x-rays and prep us for what would be taking place. They got a history and told us about what things to expect after the surgery. They had to tell us about the risks also and those were not fun to hear about. Our plan was to be in surgery by 8 a.m. They took us back to the room where we would be waiting until the doctors came to get Kayden.

With a deceased donor they need to harvest the organ and then do the transplant. I was able to get bits and pieces from the nurses and our transplant coordinator, Cecil, about who this person was. It was a teenager who had been involved in a car accident. This person was a local person meaning they were from the Salt Lake Area and the doctor that was performing Kayden's surgery was also harvesting the organ. Because it was a donation we had to wait until everything was taken care of on their end before any harvesting or transplanting could occur. I had such mixed emotions about that. On one hand I was looking at my son who was in need of a kidney and had just barely learned how to walk and thinking how exciting this is and how wonderful and then also in the back of my mind thinking about this family that was having to make the hardest decision of their life. At the time in order for me to stay focused on my son, I could not even think about the other family because of the inner turmoil it caused me.

When 8 a.m. rolled around we got word that it would anytime and that we were waiting to here from the doctors. They later came back and said o.k. 10 a.m. is when it will be. In the meantime we are sitting there in the room with a 2 year old who has not had anything to eat or drink since midnight but then again he had kidney failure so he probably wasn't hungry at all. As 10 a.m. came around they said that we would here something from the doctors anytime and then once again it was pushed back to 1 p.m., then pushed back to 2 p.m. then 3 p.m. and then finally we were told it was really going to happen at 4. By this time we truly had a cranky little 2 year old on our hands who was thirsty and ready to go to sleep. We had entertained ourselves enough during the day by playing with a sticky Spongebob Squarepants that we would throw on the wall and watch it fall down. When 4 p.m. rolled around the docs had come to get Kayden. I walked Kayden down the hall to the operating room and then Jill, our child life specialist, took Kayden and my camera into the operating room for the transplant.

When I handed Kayden over to Jill I started to cry. I didn't know what was going to happen. I was handing him over to receive a surgery that we didn't know how it would end. He was getting an organ from somebody that we had no idea who they were. I was scared and nervous and excited all at the same time.

The surgery lasted 5 hours. Kayden went in a 4 p.m. and was finished at 9 p.m. The kidney was in around 7 p.m. and it was a perfect fit and it started working immediately. When they were finished they moved him over to Primary Childrens where he would be taken care of from that point on.

That day we were given the greatest gift by someone who we don't even know. I will forever be grateful to them and for the sacrifice that they made so that my son could have a kidney. They had to make a decision that is harder than anything ever imagined, but that decision saved and helped so many people. That person helped about 10 people that day and the legacy of that person will live on. I hope that when the time comes for me to explain this to Kayden that I will be able to help him understand just how important that person is in our lives.

Here is my Kayden taken in January of this year just 2 months post transplant.

How wonderful it is to see a little boy so full of life after all that he has been through.