Todd’s Medical Fund

12/5/18 Update- Surgery day is tomorrow!! We will need to be at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago at 5:30 am. I (Tara) will be going in for surgery at 7:00 and so will my dads donor. The donor surgery will take about 4 hours. Once they get the kidney out of each donor, it will go straight to the blood bank and then the recipients will begin their surgery. Recipient surgery should take about 2-3 hours. From there we will be on the transplant recovery floor. The doctors want the donors up and moving around by night, which means I should be able to go visit my dad once he is out of surgery. Both my dad and I should be released to go home on Saturday the 8th.  We will both have a follow appointment in one week. My dad will have blood tests every three days for a few weeks. For him the most important thing is to make sure his body doesn't reject the kidney.  He will be on life long anti-rejection medication and blood tests will be very important for monitoring him. Being as my dad is getting a living kidney donation, the kidney should begin functioning as soon as it is hooked up inside of him. This means he most likely will not need dialysis following the surgery. Anybody who is healthy and wants to come visit us at the house is more than welcome!! We also want to say thank you to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers over the course of this journey! 
We will keep everybody updated on surgery day and the days that follow.

11/29/18 Update- Hello everybody!! Sorry we haven't done an update on here in a while, big things were happening and we didn't want to announce anything until it was set in stone. For those of you who don't know, we have been working  closely with the transplant team at Northwestern to get a kidney swap transplant set up. Back in June, one of our family friends informed us of a boy who needs a kidney as well. I (Tara) contacted his nurse and asked if I could get tested to see if he and I were a match as long as someone from his side got tested against my dad. Surprisingly, everything went well and I am a strong match with the boy and the donor from his side is a match with my dad. However, my dad has an antibody that his donor does not have, so he will be getting desensitized before the transplant. The last couple months have been filled with lots and lots of testing and hoping for good news, but we can now confirm that the transplant surgery will be taking place on December 6th (as in a week from today). On 11/30 Todd will go into Chicago to get a Rituxan Infusion that will weaken his immune system by killing his B cells. Then on 12/3 and 12/5 he will go back in for Plasmapheresis treatments which will take the antibody out of him.  This treatment takes about 2-3 hours and pulls all the blood out of him and filters out the protein. Then, once the antibody is gone, it will be safe to do the surgery. All four of the surgeries involved in this swap will be done on the 6th.  Recovery time for a donor is about a month and for a recipient is about 2 months. Obviously, the recipients are monitored very closely to avoid rejection. If anybody would like to help my mom and Kaitlyn take care of us after the surgery, you can contact them! 
On Sunday 12/2 we will be having an open house if anybody would like to stop by to see us before the surgery. We recently moved so if you need our new address feel free to contact us!  

6/27/18 Update- Todd was cleared last week to get put on the Kidney Pairing Donation list and the deceased kidney list. He was put on two Kidney Pairing Donation lists, the Northwestern list and the national list. The Northwestern list is checked every Friday for new matches in the database. The National list is checked once a month. The deceased kidney list he was put on is for Illinois. Illinois is in a five state agreement with Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. If a kidney in any of these states comes up and is a match and we are five hours or less away, it could go to him. However, the waiting time on that list is about six years. We are trying to get put on the deceased list for Wisconsin. The waiting time for a kidney up there is about 3 years. This is because there are more donors in Wisconsin. As of right now, we will be waiting for a kidney to become available. We are in close contact with the transplant team. 

6/1/18 Update- Yesterday Todd had a colonoscopy. He had two polyps that were removed. On Wednesday, he had an appointment with his cardiologist that went well. He is still out of A-Fib and his blood pressure medications are finally where they need to be. He does not need to see his cardiologist for two months. On Tuesday, he had his stress test. Every patient who has bypass surgery is required to have a stress test before they begin cardiac rehab. Todd should have had his stress test 2-3 weeks after his surgery, but his blood pressure was elevated too much. Hopefully he will begin his cardiac rehab very soon. Monday will mark 10 weeks since his surgery. Overall, he is recovering well. He still feels pain from time to time, especailly if he lifts certain things. We were told that the first two months-post surgery would be the hardest, so thankfully that is behind us now. Last week we recieved the news that my dad and I are no longer a compatable match for the kidney transplant. This was caused by a blood transfusion that he needed post surgery. The news was very hard on all of us. Now that the colonoscopy is done, he and I will be put on a kindey pairing waiting list. Hopefully, we will be able to find a donor that my dad is compatable with and a recipient that I am compatable with very soon. Our transplant nurse told us that if we don't find a match by the end of Summer, they will try to desensitize my dad so that he will match with me. Of course my dad says "well can't we just do that now and get it done with?" We were told that the doctors would like to try to find a perfect match for him, as this will be a safer option when thinking about how a body can reject new organs. If anybody would be interested in getting test to see if they are a compatable match with my dad, let me know and I can send you the information! Obviously he is a little depressed and discouraged with the news from last week. However, we are trying to keep him positive and to look on the bright side of all of this. The last six months have for sure been a rollercoaster ride for us, but we are all hanging in there.  We really appreciate everything that everybody has done for us! We are hoping for good news to come!

5/24/18 Update- Yesterday we recieved some bad news. We got the results back from Todd's last blood test that would confirm if we are still a match or not. Unfortunately, we are no longer a match. The blood transfusion that he had after the bypass surgery changed his antibodies. They would prefer to find him a perfect match, as that will make the process smoother. So now we have to look at different options. Our first option is to be put into the Northwestern kidney pair exchange and the National kidney pair exchange. The kidney pair exchange program is when you have a donor and a recipient that would like to donate to each other, but are not a match. This program pairs these people with other donors and recipients who are in the same situation. Northwestern has their own database with a good amount of people in it that we could possibly be a match with in Illinois. We will also be put into the National database, so we could potentially match with people from other states. This is a bigger database so there are more options. We will be put on these lists as soon as he gets clearance from his cardiologists (hopefully they will clear him by the end of the week) and has a colonoscopy done (scheduled for 5/31). My blood type is O, making me a universal donor so we will have a greater chance at finding a match because I can donate to more people. His blood type is A, which is also a common blood type, so he can recieve from O or A. Kaitlyn will also be getting tested to see if she is a match and if she isnt, she will also be put in the program to try to speed it up. If we do not get a match by the end of summer, we will try our next option. They will try to desensitize him from the antibodies. They rank antibodies as either strong or weak (weak is better than strong), and his is weak. To do this, they will put my blood and his blood together and see the reaction.  There is the potential that they will be able to desensitize the antibodies with medication. The doctors would prefer to find a perfect match, as it would be easier on him and less of a chance of his body rejecting the kidney. We have had some people offering to get tested to see if they could potentially be a donor, so if anyone is still interested, please let us know! The first step is to fill out an application to see if you qualify for donation. My dad is very discouraged and depressed about this news, but we are trying to keep him positive! Please keep up in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate through this new process.  

5/15/8 Update- About a week and a half ago we went back to Northwestern Hospital in Chicago to get Todds blood tested to see if we are still a compatable match. It will take a few more weeks to hear the results. We got the results of some of the other blood tests they did that day and they looked good. He went back to his cardiologist yesterday, they are still adjusting his medications to get them to the right levels. He is still out of A-Fib and we are hoping it stays that way. He will hopefully begin the cardiac rehab next week. Overall, he has been feeling better and is able to do more things through out the day. However, he still has his bad days and good days. Usually after dialysis he is quite tired, but still tries to get out and do stuff. As of yesterday, it has been seven weeks since the quadruple bypass surgery. His incision has healed up nicely. He still has swelling in his leg from where they took out the arteries. That will continue to go down over time. He is not allowed to life anything over 20 pounds. He still needs his colonoscopy and dentist appointment before he is cleared for the transplant. Lets hope for good news in the weeks to come! We will continue to keep everyone update as we get more news! 

5/1/18 Update- As of yesterday, it has been five weeks post surgery. He had another cardioversion on Friday, April 27th. As of right now, the procedure was successful and hopefully it will stay that way. We have learned that the longer you have been in A-Fib, the harder it is to get out of it. We are not exactly sure how long he has been in it, but it has at least been a few years. This week we will be going back to Northwestern Hospital in Chicago to get his blood retested to see if we are still a match for the transplant. He has not been able to start cardiac rehab yet, because his blood pressure it too high. The doctors are working on bringing it down and then he will begin his rehab. After the bypass surgery, they switched his blood pressure medicine and they're trying to figure out the right dosages. They have quit taking fluid off of him at dialysis and are only cleaning his blood. He is still producing urine but his kidneys are not filtering. Most people on diaylisis do not produce urine and need the excess fluid taken off. He has improved a lot over the last few weeks. He still has his good days and bad days. Some days he feels very good and can go out and do stuff during the day. Some days he does not feel good and just stays home. He is slowly building back up his stamina. He will be meeting with his cardiologist tomorrow for another check up. We have been staying in close contact with out transplant team and as soon as he is cleared to finish up the last few tests he needs to prior to the transplant, we will get those done. We will continue to keep everyone updated!

4/16/18 Update- Todd has been home for a week and a half now. He has his good days and his bad days. He had to go back to the Emergency Room on Saturday the 14. When he was a dialysis Saturday morning, his heart went back into A-Fib. When he came home from the hospital on the 6th, he was on Amiodarone (helps keep the heart in normal sinus rhythm) 2 times a day for 7 days, then down to once a day. On Friday the 13th, he went down to once a day and the next day he went back into A-Fib. The doctors think this is what caused the A-Fib to come back. They bumped him back up to taking the medication 2 times a day. His heart may go back into normal sinus rhythm on its own, or another cardioversion is an option. The doctors are also considering the fact that he does not feel the A-Fib physically, so depending on what his team decideds they might not want to spend too much time trying to correct it. It is also being controlled with medication. However, the transplant team would prefer for him to be in normal sinus rhythm for the kidney transplant. It makes the surgery less risky. Next week he will need another cardiac stress test to ensure that he is in good condition to begin cardiac rehab. He still is not allowed to drive as of right now. He also can not lift anything over five pounds for 8 more weeks. Some days he feels very good and wants to get out and do stuff, other days he is very tired and worn out. The cardiologist said it could take up to three months for him to build his stamina back up. His main goal right now it to heal correctly so he can get his transplant as soon as possible. His heart surgerion told him he would be ready for a transplant in 6-8 weeks, however, Todd does not feel he will be ready that soon. In about two weeks he will need to get his blood re-tested to see if he and I (Tara) are still a perfect match for the transplant. We can not thank everyone enough for the love and kind words we have recieved from everyone. Having a good support system definitely helps the recovery process! We will continue to keep everyone updated as we recieve more information. 

4/8/18 Update- So sorry we are late getting this out here, Todd came home from the hospital Friday night! Before being discharged he needed to be on an IV for two hours for Magnesium because his levels were low. This is caused by the dialysis. On Tuesday, he had a cardioversion and it was successful. They were able to get rid of the A-Fib, A-Flutter and V-Tach. His heart rate is about 75 and he is already feeling better. Now that he is home, he is starting to feel a little more comfortable as well. He is very sore but that is to be expected. He is catching up on sleep being as he did not get very much in the hospital. He has a follow up appointment with his surgeon next Thursday. In about a week he will start his cardiac rehab. The cardiac rehab will help strengthen his heart and keep him active. The exercises he will do will be specifically tailored to him and his limitations. Before all of this happened, he was taking 20 pills a day, now he is taking 11 pills. In a few months, he will get off the blood thinners. He is taking it very easy and trying to have the best recovery possible. Anybody is more than welcomed to come visit him at our house in St Charles! If you need our address, feel free to message myself, my dad, sister or mom! 

4/3/18 Day 8 Recovery Update- Todd was moved out of the Cardiac ICU and into a normal Cardiac patient room late last night. His heart is still in A-fib and V-tach but it is being monitored closely. Tomorrow he will have a cardioversion ( shock his heart) to try to get him out of A-fib and V-tach and into a normal sinus rhythm. The doctors are confident that this procedure will work. There is a possiblity of him coming home Friday. However, he won't be able to go home unless they get his heart rate controlled. Today marks his 15th day in the hospital. He has been going stir-crazy. At the beginning of March I (Tara) went to Chicago to get 12 hours of testing done to see if I am a match with my dad for the kidney transplant. Today, we found out that my dad and I are a compatable match. Unfortunately, because he had a blood transfusion on Saturday, we don't know if we are still a match. Blood transfusions can cause antibodies to form against the tissue and that can change everything. Hopefully, we are still compatable and after he heals from the heart surgery, we can get back to our transplant team in Chicago and pick up where we left off. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers and hope for good news to come! He is in room 314 at CDH for those of you who are interested in visiting. Stop by whenever, he says he'll be here waiting!

3/31/18 Day 5 Recovery Update- There was word amongst the doctors and nurses that Todd would most likely be going home today. However, when they did his morning blood draw today, they noticed his Hemoglobin level was low. The average Hemoglobin level for an adult male is 13-17. Todd is in kidney failure and that makes him anemic so his Hemoglobin level is usually 9.5. This morning his level was 6.6, which is very low. He was worried about getting a blood transfusion because that can affect the antibodies, which can make the kidney transplant a little more complicated. The doctors told him he needed a transfusion and they ended up giving him one pack of blood. His heart is now in A-Fib, A-Flutter and V-Tach. He was moved back into the Cardiac ICU so he could be monitored closer. He was also hooked back up to IV drips to try to control and convert his heart into a normal sinus rhythm. So he will be here for a few days longer than originally expected. Other than that, he feels a little better each day. On the bright side, his ejection fraction has already gone up since surgery! The day of surgery his heart was squeezing at 30%, today his heart is squeezing at 60%. An ejection fraction of 55% or higher is coinsidered normal. Hopefully they will get his heart back into a normal sinus rhythm and he will be back on the road to recovery! Thank you to everyone who has sent their prayers and kind messages! They are all so appreciated! We will keep everyone updated as we get more information!

3/29/18 Day 3 Recovery Update- Todd has been feeling better each and every day. Yesterday afternoon, two of the three drainage tubes were pulled. Today, he had his final tube pulled out. He hasn't slept very much the last few days, but that is to be expected when staying in the hospital. The pain medication makes him feel very nauseous. He finally ate his first meal since Sunday night, this afternoon. His pain levels have gone down a lot since getting the tubes pulled. A few times during the day he will get sudden bursts of pain, but other than that, the pain is tolerable. His activity levels increase each day. Getting up and moving is the best thing for him right now. Besides doing the bypasses, another goal of the surgery was to fix his A-Fib. He currently is not in A-Fib, but he is in A-Flutter. A-Flutter is when the hearts upper chambers beat very fast. His heart keeps converting between normal sinus rhythm and A-Flutter. The doctors don't seem to be very concerned about this. They hope that the heart will stop converting to these fast rhythms. He is taking medicine to try and control it. Yesterday evening he was moved from the CICU to a normal cardiac patient room. Visitors can now come see him. He is in room 309 at CDH. He will most likely be here until Monday at the earliest. Shortly after getting released from the hospital, he will start his cardiac rehab. We will continue to keep everyone update!

3/27/18 Day 1 Recovery Update- Today was a very hard day for Todd. Last night after getting off the ventilator, he had to wear a breathing mask. The mask was blowing air into his nose and mouth to help him breath. He did not like it at all and it made him very frustrated. He finally got the mask off at 8 this morning. They did four hours of dialysis today and took off 3 liters (6.6 pounds) of fluid. They usually don't pull very much fluid off him, but being as they are pumping so much into him right now, it needs to be taken off. His heart has been converting between normal sinus ryhthm and sinus tach. Sinus tach is when his heart rate is elevated. For example, at one point today his heart rate was 140 bmp and stayed there for a while then it jumped down 75 bmp. His heart converted about four times today. The doctors weren't too worried about this. Other than that, his numbers were all looking very good today. He has been on a lot of blood pressure medications since coming out of surgery yesterady. The have been able to slowly wean him off of them today and he tolerated it well. He has been in a lot of pain today and the pain medications are not helping very much. Most of the pain he is feeling is coming from his drainage tubes. He can not get the drainage tubes out until he has been up and moving two times. At 6pm he got up and sat in the chair and ate some jello. They are hoping to be able to get some of the tubes out tomorrow afternoon. It is very important for him to get up and move as much as possible, as this will help his lungs function better and avoid Pneumonia. Hopefully he will be out of the Cardiac ICU by late tomorrow night, or Thursday morning. He will then go to the Cariac patient rooms. 

3/26/18 Update- Surgery went smoothly! He was brought down from his room at 5:30 am for prep. They took him to the OR at 7:00 and surgery was started at 8:07. During the surgery we received calls from the nurse in the OR. At about 10:00 he was put “on pump”.  This means that his heart was stopped and his lungs were collapsed, so the heart/lung machine was doing all the work for him. At 12:30 we got a call saying  that he was “off pump” and his heart was beating on its own. Around 1:00 we met with his surgeon. He told us that they ended up having to do a QUADRUPLE bypass. Two arteries had 100% blockages and the other two were 90%. The surgeon told us that when they opened him up and first saw the heart, they noticed it was enlarged. We were also told that a normal heart squeezes and 60% and his was squeezing at 30%. He said that there was signs that Todd has had many “silent” heart attacks and the heart has been damaged. Hopefully now that he has plenty of new blood flowing through the heart, it will get stronger on its own. We have learned that the blockages have formed because of the kidney failure. The kidney doctor explained that his kidneys probably started failing two years ago. Kidneys filter the blood and if his weren’t working, they were pumping dirty blood and that eventually caused the blockages. At 3:30 we were able to go into the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit to see him for a few minutes. He was still asleep at this time and on the ventilator with the tubes in. The nurse did tell us that he opened his eyes a few times, squeezed her hand and wiggled his toes when asked. They are planning to wake him up soon and begin to take the tubes out. We appreciate all the kind words and prayers from everyone through out this journey. He still has a long road ahead of him, but he is a tough guy! We will continue to update everyone as we get more news. 

3/23/18 Update- Triple Bypass surgery is scheduled for first thing Monday morning. Yesterday Todd had a test where they put a camera down his throat to look at his heart. The doctors said that his valves and muscles all looked very good! He was started on a Heparin ( a blood thinner) IV drip. This will prepare him for the surgery. From now until Monday he will have to stay in the hospital and wait for surgery. He is already bored and looking for visitors so stop on by! He is in room 325 and Central Dupage Hospital. 
The Surgery-This is open heart surgery so he will have a long recovery. The surgery will take anywhere from 4-7 hours. During the surgery, his heart will be stopped for about an hour and a heart and lung machine will be doing the work for him. When he wakes up afterwards he will be on a ventilator for a few hours. The doctors said by the next day he should be sitting up. He will probably have to stay in the hospital for about a week, then he can go home.
The Recovery- According to the doctors, he won’t feel very good for the first month after surgery. Coughing, sneezing and laughing will all hurt. The first month is very important because that is the time that the sternum will be healing. If it does not fuse together properly, it will stay open and there is risk for infection. After the first month, he will gradually start to feel better. He will also have to participate in cardiac rehab. After about eight weeks he should start to get back to normal and resume normal activity. 
The Kidneys- The angiogram that found the bloackages was one of the last tests that he needed to pass before getting a new kidney. After hearing the news that he would need open heart surgery, we all wondered how this would affect the kidney transplant. We have come to learn that this is all happening at the right time. Triple bypass surgery is very hard on the kidneys. Being as his kidneys are already bad, it is good to get this done and fixed before getting the new kidney. This surgery will delay the transplant by a few months, but that is not the end of the world. As of right now, his heart is more important than his kidneys. 
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers and let’s hope for a safe surgery and a speedy recovery! We will keep everyone up to date.


3/21/18 Update- Todd was moved to Central Dupage Hospital today around noon. He will be having tests done today and tomorrow and hopefully surgery will he scheduled for Friday. We are still waiting to hear from the surgeon tonight. There was mention of an angioplasty for clean out the arteries, but mostly likely they will end up doing a triple bypass. The LAD artery that is 100% blocked on the front of the heart is tricky to get via angioplasty. The news of the blockage was very unexpected so he is very scared right now. We are trying to keep his spirits up as best as we can. If you would like to call or stop by anyone is more than welcome to. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers and let’s hope for a speedy recovery! 

3/20/18 Update- Today Todd had an angiogram and it did not go well. They found three major blockages. The artery on the front of the heart is 100% blocked. The other two arteries are 80-90% blocked. Most likely he will be having a triple bipass surgery which is open heart surgery. As of right now we are at Delnor but he will be transferred to Central Dupage Hospital tonight or early tomorrow morning. We are waiting to hear from the surgereons at CDH to get their input and see if they have an opening to do the surgery tomorrow.  While they are in there working on the blockages, they will be able to fix the Atrial Fribrulation as welll. He will be in the hospital for about a week after the surgery. We will update as we get more information. Please send lots of prayers his way!

3/10/18 Update- Yesterday Todd had a cardioversion to get his heart out of A-fib. This procedure is done by shocking the heart. Unfortunately the procedure did not work and he is still in A-fib. He is pretty discouraged by this. He has an appointment with his cardiologist on Wednesday to discuss what to do next. In order to have a transplant a cancer screening and colonoscopy must be done first. He recently had his cancer screening and passed! Next up will be the colonoscopy so let’s hope for good news. Keep sending your thoughts and prayers as they are much appreciated. We will post another update after the appointment on Wednesday!


2/8/18 Update- We found out that Todd has Parsonage Turner Syndrome in his shoulder. This is a nerve disorder that causes severe pain and is usually triggered by a virus or a traumatic event. His shoulder is basically paralyzed but he is doing acupuncture and physical therapy and it is slowly helping. The recovery process can take up to nine months before his shoulder could be back to normal. He met with his cardiologist today. He has been on warfarin for the last three weeks and his IRN number needs to be above 2.0 for a steady four weeks before he can get his heart shocked to get out of A-Fib. Two weeks ago his number dropped below 2.0 so the four weeks started again on Feb. 1st. So hopefully by the beginning of March he should be ready for the shock. He will meet with the kidney transplant doctor next Friday. He has lost about 20 pounds in the last month and is eating a lot healthier. He is slowly starting to feel better, but is tired a lot. We will update you again after the appointment with the transplant doctor. 

1/24/18 Update- Today Todd is having an MRI on his shoulder. For a little over a week now his arm has been hurting a lot and he hasn’t been able to raise it. He was told he may have a torn rotator cuff or a build up of calcium deposits. The MRI will tell us what it is. In the middle of February he has an appointment with a transplant specialist and we will start looking into that option. There is still a small chance that the kidneys will start up again but his doctor did tell him to get on the transplant list. The waiting list for a kidney in Illinois is about 6 years. Illinois is in a five state agreement with Some of the surrounding states, but you must be within five hours of the hospital that receives the kidney. We were also told to get on Wisconsins waiting list because it is about 3 years for a kidney. Kaitlyn and I (Tara) will also be getting tested to see if we are matches with him. He is still not sleeping more than a couple hours each night so during the day he is usually tired. However, the last few days he has felt the best he has in a while. 

1/13/18 Update- On 1/11/18 Todd went back to the emergency room because he was feeling light headed and dizzy. He was there for a few hours and then sent home. His blood pressure was very low for what his is usually at. They concluded that on Thursday morning when he was at dialysis, they over diyalized him. This basically means that they took too much fluid out of him. He is feeling a little better now, however, he has not been sleeping very well ever since he came home from the hospital on December 20th. We still have not heard the final results of the kidney biopsy. His blood tests are showing that the kidneys have not shown any signs of improvement. Next month he will have his heart shocked to take him out of A-Fib. Then they will move on to the angiogram. The step after that will be to move onto  loooking into a kidney transplant. We would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers, donations, visitiors and love we have received over the last month. It truly means so much to us. 

12/26/17 Update- Sorry for the delay on this update, there’s been a lot going on. We got the preliminary results for Todd’s kidney biopsy on Friday. They said 70% of his kidneys are scarred which is bad news. This means there isn’t a good chance of the kidneys coming back, but we should get the official results sometime this week. He still wants to give the dialysis a chance in hopes that just maybe they will come back. He had his first dialysis outside of the hospital on Saturday morning. My mom (Linda) was driving to pick him up when she got rear ended on Randall Road. Thankfully she did not get hurt but her car is most likely totaled. Since being home, Todd has felt better and has been more comfortable. We’ve had a crazy few weeks, so hopefully the new year will start out better for us. Please continue to pray for us and keep us in your thoughts. We will post another update once we get the official results for the kidney biopsy back!

12/20/17 Update- Yesterday Todd had a busy day. He finished up his stress test, had a kidney biopsy done and had a more permanant dialysis port put in. His stress test showed that he may have some blockages in his heart. In order to find the blockages and more information about them, he would need an angiogram done. This test is done by shooting dye into the heart. The problem with this is that the dye will kill whatever is left of the kidneys. So we need to wait until we get the results from the kidney biopsy. The biopsy will tell us whether or not the kidneys have any chance of coming back or not. They put in a different dialysis port because the one that he had in the hospital is only for temperoary use. He will go to dialysis three times a week for three hours each day. On the bright side, he did get to come home today!! With everything that has happened in the last week he has been a little depressed. We have been trying to cheer him up and keep him positive, so if you happen to talk to him help keep him in good spirits.  Please continue to keep him and our family in your thoughts and prayers. 

12/18/17 Update-  Today Todd is having a medicine induced stress test. This will give us more information on what is going on inside his heart. He will also have a kidney biopsy done either Tuesday or Wednesday. This is an important biopsy because it will tell us if his kidneys have any scarring or not and it will give us a better insight as to wheather or not the doctors think the kidneys will come back or not.  He is feeling a little better each day, but we still have a long road ahead of us. He is still in the hospital and may be able to go home Wednesday at the earliest. 

12/16/17 Update- Today the doctors did a test to check Todd’s kidney levels to see if they have improved. They went a little in the wrong direction, but that isn’t necessarily bad news. It could just mean that he needs more time on the dialysis. Either way he will be on it for several months though. They will be doing a kidney biopsy sometime next week. He will he in the hospital for at least  another four days. Keep on praying and thinking of him!

12/15/17- Todd was taken to the hospital on December 12 because of chest pain. After running multiple tests we have learned that he has complete kidney failure,  pancreatitis and had a heart attack recently. He is being put on dialysis in hopes that his kidneys will restart, but he still has a long road ahead of him. He will need to receive dialysis treatments for a while. Right now our main concern is to get him better. However, being in the ICU and having all these tests done does add up. The funds that we raise here will be used to pay his medical bills and for the treatment that will need to be done when he leaves the hospital. Thank you all so much for helping our family out in our current situation. Send your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery! 

If if you have any questions or would like to come visit him in the hospital, please contact me (his wife) Linda via text, call or Facebook message.