Healing for Mars
Donation protected
My nephew Mars has had a rough little 2 years of life.
He was born with a urological disorder called Posterior Urethral Valves. The valves that allow the urine to pass through the urethra are abnormal and cause urine obstructions. In Mars' case, it has caused reverse flow, basically where the urine cannot drain fast enough from his body so it "backs up" into other parts of his urinary tract. The urine has had reverse flow from his urethra, into his bladder, then to his ureters. This has caused him to develop chronic kidney disease. He spent the first two months of his life at UVA Medical Center and has had weekly (sometimes monthly) trips to UVA to receive testing, minor surgeries, and to have ultrasounds and cystoscopies done. He has had an endoscopic ablation done to try to correct the valve abnormality, but it didn't work. Finally they put a catheter in to try to drain the urine that way. This is where the REAL big trouble has started.
Recently my sister took him to the ER because he was running a fever and no urine was coming from the catheter. He had a pretty bad UTI. The ER made contact with UVA who told them to send my nephew and sister home and they would be in contact. Before the scheduled appointment at UVA even came, my sister had to take him back to the ER. He wasn't eating, drinking, responding to his name, and seemed confused and lethargic. The ER immediately transferred him to UVA. He had a vesicostomy done. This brings the bladder to the skin with a small opening in the lower abdomen. During surgery, a nurse blew a vein in his foot and allowed his foot to become heavily infiltrated with medications. It became severely infected and he became septic. My sister was told that he would likely not make it. But they did a blood transfusion and found the correct antibiotic to administer. He also started dialysis. He didn't wake up really until today. His surgery was 3 days ago. He is now drinking water and talking some, but he now has stage 4 chronic kidney disease and is undergoing dialysis and will have to have a skin graft to his foot. He is a little fighter. He will have to go to UVA multiple times a week for dialysis once he gets out of the hospital in a few weeks. With my sisters current living situation, he cannot be considered for at home dialysis (nightly dialysis while he sleeps) because he needs a room where my other nephew cannot come in to possibly mess with the equipment. My nephew Mazdyn has nonverbal autism and could possibly mess with his medical equipment. So he cannot be considered for at home dialysis until my sister can move. She has the means to pay rent each month. But she needs a little help in the initial cost for security deposits and all. This will DRASTICALLY benefit my nephew Mars' quality of life. If there is anything you can do to help make this possible, we would appreciate it. He is two but has had enough hardship to last a lifetime and it would be nice if he could just not have to make a trip to UVA constantly. Thank you for reading this and please share. If you feel uncomfortable to donate online and would rather make a cash contribution, please contact me at [email redacted]
He was born with a urological disorder called Posterior Urethral Valves. The valves that allow the urine to pass through the urethra are abnormal and cause urine obstructions. In Mars' case, it has caused reverse flow, basically where the urine cannot drain fast enough from his body so it "backs up" into other parts of his urinary tract. The urine has had reverse flow from his urethra, into his bladder, then to his ureters. This has caused him to develop chronic kidney disease. He spent the first two months of his life at UVA Medical Center and has had weekly (sometimes monthly) trips to UVA to receive testing, minor surgeries, and to have ultrasounds and cystoscopies done. He has had an endoscopic ablation done to try to correct the valve abnormality, but it didn't work. Finally they put a catheter in to try to drain the urine that way. This is where the REAL big trouble has started.
Recently my sister took him to the ER because he was running a fever and no urine was coming from the catheter. He had a pretty bad UTI. The ER made contact with UVA who told them to send my nephew and sister home and they would be in contact. Before the scheduled appointment at UVA even came, my sister had to take him back to the ER. He wasn't eating, drinking, responding to his name, and seemed confused and lethargic. The ER immediately transferred him to UVA. He had a vesicostomy done. This brings the bladder to the skin with a small opening in the lower abdomen. During surgery, a nurse blew a vein in his foot and allowed his foot to become heavily infiltrated with medications. It became severely infected and he became septic. My sister was told that he would likely not make it. But they did a blood transfusion and found the correct antibiotic to administer. He also started dialysis. He didn't wake up really until today. His surgery was 3 days ago. He is now drinking water and talking some, but he now has stage 4 chronic kidney disease and is undergoing dialysis and will have to have a skin graft to his foot. He is a little fighter. He will have to go to UVA multiple times a week for dialysis once he gets out of the hospital in a few weeks. With my sisters current living situation, he cannot be considered for at home dialysis (nightly dialysis while he sleeps) because he needs a room where my other nephew cannot come in to possibly mess with the equipment. My nephew Mazdyn has nonverbal autism and could possibly mess with his medical equipment. So he cannot be considered for at home dialysis until my sister can move. She has the means to pay rent each month. But she needs a little help in the initial cost for security deposits and all. This will DRASTICALLY benefit my nephew Mars' quality of life. If there is anything you can do to help make this possible, we would appreciate it. He is two but has had enough hardship to last a lifetime and it would be nice if he could just not have to make a trip to UVA constantly. Thank you for reading this and please share. If you feel uncomfortable to donate online and would rather make a cash contribution, please contact me at [email redacted]
Organizer
Afton Bowyer
Organizer
Roanoke, VA
