Stephen's Journey: Beach!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Beach!

No news is good news!!! We had awesome labs last week so we packed up and headed to the beach! It was a long ride down to Southport, NC, but Stephen did great (way better then Mabel), made some trucker friends along the way at a truck stop (he learned the all important "honk" symbol), and has been having so much fun exploring Nanie and Poppa's beach house. We took him to the beach on Sunday not really sure what was going to happen, but after a few tears and about two hours of not leaving the blanket, he finally ventured down to the water; but definitely not without his dump truck! He ended up having a blast digging holes and running back and forth from the water to the beach as the waves came up. And after a while, the tide went down exposing a very wide sand bar, and he ventured out into the ocean. I'd say the beach ended up being a big success and life after transplant is soooooooo good!!

1 comment:

BethAugust 30, 2013 at 9:11 AM
Dear Lindsey

What a way to end the summer!! I am so happy for all of you. I know that God has something special planned for your Stephen. He has already been blessed with you for a mom. May there be endless sunny days ahead!
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Our Crazy Kidney Life

As many of you already know, our son Stephen, was born with a very rare kidney disease called Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD). When the disease was discovered during my 27th week of pregnancy, Stephen was given a less than 1% chance of living more than a few hours past birth. He was to have such severely underdeveloped lungs that the doctors said he would likely not even take one breath. However, on January 4, 2011, we were granted our 1st miracle - and Stephen came into this world crying (and breathing!) and fighting for his life with fierce determination. At 6 days old he had BOTH of his kidneys removed and began peritoneal dialysis. Stephen came home from the hospital when he was 59 days old requiring 12 hours of dialysis every night as well as enteral (feeding tube) feeds during the day and overnight.

On May 9, 2013, we were granted our 2nd miracle, in the form of a new kidney from an extremely generous friend. Stephen received a kidney from a non-related living donor at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He spent 13 days in the hospital recovering from his big surgery and ever since has been living life the fullest! His life is still a delicate balance of medications and weekly lab work, but he's an extremely vibrant, loving, active 2.5 year old.

This blog is Stephen's journey told through my eyes (his mother's), thoughts, and emotions, with extreme highs and lows. But there's no way we would be where we are today without all of the support, thoughts and prayers from our family, friends, and readers! Thank you!!