Cincinnati, Children's Hospital

David, Ezekiel, and I just got back from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  We had a great trip.  Our 3 days of back to back appointments went so smoothly.  It was amazing to have doctors who have seen cases like Ezekiel’s multiple times and have done kidney transplants many times per year.  They were able to answer many questions we have had since he was born and give a better understanding of the journey ahead.  We are still processing and awaiting to hear from the doctors for future appointments and surgeries but are excited we have a plan for our little guy.  

We had appointments with everyone.  We saw….nephrology, urology, cardiology, plumonary, psychology, Dental, Infectious Disease, the transplant surgeon, the transplant financial coordinator, the transplant kidney coordinator, anesthesia, dialysis dietitian, and social worker.  He also had to get multiple sonograms, x-rays, and lab work done.   Ezekiel has to get an all clear for surgery from all areas listed above.  Here’s a short recap of what will be happening in the near future…

• Cardiology (the Heart) - He will be getting a follow up echocardiograms every 3 months with EKG’s
• Plumonology (the Lungs) - He will be having a sleep study done to make sure oxygen levels are adequate.  Which we had no issues while were in the hospital but they just want documentation.  Not looking forward to this, since we will have to drag everything to the hospital and stay the night while people watch us sleep.  
• Nephrology (the Kidneys) - In order to do his transplant we need him to grow and get fat. Once he is 20 pounds and longer he will be big enough to accommodate an adult kidney (Which we found out that David and I are both matches! I will talk more about that later).  Not only does he need to get bigger but we need to figure out his bladder function.  They will not transplant a new kidney into an unknown bladder or his current ureterosotmies in his back.  
• Urology (the Urinary Tract) - This was the biggest appointment.  We knew that Zeke will have to have surgeries besides his transplant but didn’t know what or when these will take place.  We loved the urologist there, we already have a plan in the short time he was there.  Zeke will have to have surgery in the next couple of months to work on his bladder and urethra.  The root of where this all started.  They will do a procedure called a vesicostomy -an opening from the bladder to the outside of his body.  With this he will be able to have more a functional bladder. With this surgery they will be able to tell function and possibly stretch it if needed and fix/stretch his urethra.  If they are able to save his urethra, we will be traveling back to Cincinnati every 2 weeks for 5 times to get his urethra stretched again.  We are praying they can save his urethra, because it is the only chance he has to have a normal functioning penis.  

David and I are both candidates for donating a kidney to Ezekiel.  They do a blood type compatibility, which we all have the same blood type, and a HLA tissue typing.  HLA tissue typing involves 6 different antigens in our blood that are important for organ transplantaion.  I am a 4-match, which we have been told is very good.  Getting a 6-match kidney donor is very rare, usually only seen in identical twins.  We are still waiting for David’s results but we know he is at least a 3-match because he is the father. Even though we are a match, we will still need to go through health tests and a CT scan to see if our kidney size could fit into Ezekiel.  But at least know we are a match.

So with that being said, we need to have optimum health for ourselves so we can give Zeke the best kidney and have a quick recovery after surgery. The question is “how do we get healthy?

Thankfully, we were introduced to the Shaklee Corporation - the number one natural nutrition company in the United States - and have been using their supplements for over 10 years. Not only do we take vitamins, we wash our clothes, floors and dishes with natural cleaners. But is that enough to get “optimal health?” Do we change out diet, do we need to up our exercise? If you have suggestions on how to optimize kidney health, please share!

With travel, food and hotel expenses, our frequent trips to Ohio will get pretty pricy. Insurance will cover a good chunk of the costs but not all of it. In effort to bring in some extra income we have decided to jump into the opportunity the Shaklee cooperation offers - running our own health and wellness business. We have used their products for over 10 years and have seen them work. We have fallen in love with the company’s values and the bottle line is we trust them. Now it is time for us to share these products to you and others who will benefit from the results they promise. 

If you are interested in either joining with us on our journey to be healthy or just Support us… You can click here to visit EZEKIEL'S SUPPORT PAGE