2 years and still going strong

Today is the anniversary of one of the best things that has happened to our family.

It actually all began on November 13 when we received the call saying that there was a kidney available for Kayden and I was told to head up to Salt Lake because there was suppose to be a big storm coming in. So I hurried and grabbed the things that we would need for at least a week since Thanksgiving was fast approaching and I was hoping that we would be home. I don't know how to explain the feelings that I had when I received that call. I was looking forward to that call every single time that the phone would ring for 7 days and when it finally came I could not believe it. I was so excited and adrenaline took over. I called those that needed to know and then when I was done spreading the news I was able to release and just sit down and cry. My son was going to be getting the greatest gift ever from someone that we did not even know. I was so thankful, scared, sad, excited, nervous everything all in one. It is so hard for me to explain the feeling that I had when we received that call and to know that this was actually going to happen. It was like a dream and I was so scared that something was going to happen and we would not able to get the transplant, but that was not the case.


The night of the 13th was the last night that I had to give my child the medications that were doing what his kidneys were suppose to be doing. It was the last night that I gave him his growth hormone. It was the last night that I gave him his epogen shot that he hated and screamed when he got it. It was the last night that his body would be using his native kidneys with the really crappy function that they had. His kidneys would no longer need to work so hard.


We arrived at the University of Utah Hospital on the morning of November 14 at 6 a.m. and were taken to be prepped for surgery. And as everyone who was there knows that we waited forever!!!!!!! To make a really long day short we were suppose to have surgery first thing in the morning but we were not taken back for surgery until 4 p.m. I walked Kayden down the hall to the O.R and turned my child over to the doctors to perform a life saving operation.


I had mixed emotions all day long. Here my son was getting a chance at life and yet there was some family who was suffering the loss of a loved one. This family was suffering and mine was celebrating and I had such inner turmoil that I had to just focus on Kayden. What information that I did have was it was a teenager from the Salt Lake area who had been in a car accident. On one hand I was looking at a 2 year old toddler who had just learned to walk and in another room in that same hospital was a family who was saying goodbye to their teenager and making the hardest decision of their life. Both our life and theirs would be connected and changed for the rest of our lives. I will forever be thankful to that family for what they gave to us that day. They gave my son something that I couldn't give him at birth....a healthy kidney.


The surgery took 5 hours. The surgeons told me the kidney was a perfect fit and as soon as it was in it turned pink and started functioning. His creatinine level prior to transplant, the level that doctors measure your kidney function by, was around 2.6 with less than 10% kidney function. After transplant his creatinine levels were down to .4. His levels had never been that low in his life and he was starting down a journey that 2 years later we have never regretted.


I sit here looking at a healthy 4 year old little boy running around with spiderman underwear on his head pretending that he is spiderman and thinking about how I never dreamed that he would be doing some of the things he is doing now. I have been crying all morning thinking about how blessed I am. Words can never express the joy and gratitude that I have for that family and I think the only thing that will ever truly show it will be the tears that I shed when I think about the gift that they gave us and the many smiles that Kayden gives to me. Their decision that day saved 10 peoples lives and impacted even more. There is a special place in my heart for them.


Here are some pictures. Warning......they do show a human organ. But it is the most precious human organ ever received.