Back on the road to transplant

We went to the Kansas City Children's Mercy Hospital last week for extensive evaluation again for Joe.  His kidney function is now at the magical 20% function required for transplant.  After about 12 appointments in two days we believe Joe will be approved for transplant.  The nurse is now referring Jeremy to begin his testing again like he did last year.  Jeremy will have to go to the KU hospital for evaluation because they will do his surgery to remove the kidney.  We hope to go to KU within a few weeks.  Once Jeremy's testing is finished and approved for transplant the teams will book the surgery.  Our hope is that it will happen some time this summer, but it may be early fall.

Joe is not feeling great, but does okay most days physically.  He is really battling anxiety, not surprising for a child facing such a difficult surgery and life-long reality of strict medicine regime and continued medical treatments daily.  We really hoped and prayed the medical treatments would not be necessary after transplant, but the doctors do not believe that will be so for Joe.

We have learned that Jeremy will be in a separate hospital than Joey which is best for him, but hard on me to have my two favorite men in pain in separate locations.  Jeremy's oldest sister has agreed to sit with him while he is in the hospital.  This takes a huge weight off my shoulders! He is expected to stay in the hospital 2-3 days, but will require 4-6 weeks to recuperate.

On a happy note, I received a call from the Oklahoma Make-A-Wish foundation yesterday and they have approved Joey to receive a wish!  We will meet with volunteers soon to interview Joe and find out what his "wish" will be.  I am excited for him.  My prayer is that his "wish" will enable him to forget his worries for a while and be a kid.

We know God works all things for His good for those that love the Lord.  We believe He will use this trial to strengthen our son's faith and the faith of our whole family.  I am thankful His mercies are new every morning!

This is a picture of Joe, Emma, my sister Jennifer, me, my brother-in-law Greg and Jeremy at our favorite diner, Town Topic.  We love to eat breakfast here before going to appointments!  This time we got to bring Jen and Greg with us. :)