Daddy & Daughter Kidney Transplant
Donation protected
On Tuesday, November 25th 2014, Cassie was sent home from school with a massive nosebleed, headache and some nausea. This was the first of any kind ...of symptoms. She tried to join in the Thanksgiving festivities, but wasn't feeling herself.
Friday, November 28th in the early morning hours, she indicated to her parents that she felt like she was going to get sick. It was at that point that she indicated she was having trouble seeing. Her parents took her to the ER and were told that because her potassium and blood pressure were through the roof and a blood panel revealed her to be in kidney failure, she would need to be life flighted to the University of Michigan's CS Mott Children's Hospital.
It was decided to immedia
tely put Cassie on dialysis. In the process of preparation and inserting the required catheters, one of the guide wires was not properly removed and this caused the wire to slip into her blood vessel. Unfortunately, this required an unexpected surgery to remove the wire which delayed efforts to stabilize her blood pressure and put Cassie on dialysis. The intent was to allow the dialysis to help clean up her kidneys so that a biopsy could be taken to figure out the origin of the failure.
Unfortunately, on Sunday, December 30th, after 3 days of dialysis, doctors concluded that Cassie's kidneys are only at 3% of productivity and they will not be able to be repaired enough to function on their own, nor are they strong enough to withstand a biopsy.
Cassie WILL NEED a transplant.
While we are all very eager to find out what we need to do to line up potential donors, it is essential that we figure out what the cause of the kidney failure is in order to insure that Cassie's system will not re-attack the transplant.
On December 2, doctors received positive blood test results that indicated the presence of ANCA (Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies). The mere presence of these antibodies are indicative of several different possible disorders, but her nephrologists have narrowed it down to one of two possible disorders: Wegener's granulomatosis (AKA granulomatosis with polyangiitis ) or Microscopic polyangitis. They have ordered blood tests that can rule out or allow them to make a diagnosis of one of the two, but THERE ARE other disorders that are possible with the presence of these antibodies in the event that both are ruled out. They key is that this is most likely the origin of the kidney failure, therefore may be the key to being able to diagnose Cassie and then move on to finding a donor.
Other keys findings are that the doctors have ruled out that it is hereditary, which as I am sure you understand was a relief to Cassie's parents because this isn't something they have to worry about in Cassie's siblings.
Where do we go from here? They will be inserting a permanent catheter tomorrow morning which will enable Cassie to have more mobility and is much more comfortable than the ones she has now.
While we pin down a diagnosis and continue dialysis, Cassie will remain at U of M until next week. Then, she will go home, however she will be returning to the hospital in Ann Arbor 3-4 times a week for 3 hours at a time for her dialysis. The goal is to get her systems stable again so that they can be ready to receive a transplant under the best conditions. This is expected to anywhere from 3-6 months.
The family will be constantly at the hospital and going back and forth between picking up the other siblings and attending dialysis appointments.
Between gas for transportation to and from the hospital, as well as quickly accruing medical costs, the family would appreciate anything you can do to help defray from these costs.
Friday, November 28th in the early morning hours, she indicated to her parents that she felt like she was going to get sick. It was at that point that she indicated she was having trouble seeing. Her parents took her to the ER and were told that because her potassium and blood pressure were through the roof and a blood panel revealed her to be in kidney failure, she would need to be life flighted to the University of Michigan's CS Mott Children's Hospital.
It was decided to immedia
tely put Cassie on dialysis. In the process of preparation and inserting the required catheters, one of the guide wires was not properly removed and this caused the wire to slip into her blood vessel. Unfortunately, this required an unexpected surgery to remove the wire which delayed efforts to stabilize her blood pressure and put Cassie on dialysis. The intent was to allow the dialysis to help clean up her kidneys so that a biopsy could be taken to figure out the origin of the failure.Unfortunately, on Sunday, December 30th, after 3 days of dialysis, doctors concluded that Cassie's kidneys are only at 3% of productivity and they will not be able to be repaired enough to function on their own, nor are they strong enough to withstand a biopsy.
Cassie WILL NEED a transplant.
While we are all very eager to find out what we need to do to line up potential donors, it is essential that we figure out what the cause of the kidney failure is in order to insure that Cassie's system will not re-attack the transplant.
On December 2, doctors received positive blood test results that indicated the presence of ANCA (Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies). The mere presence of these antibodies are indicative of several different possible disorders, but her nephrologists have narrowed it down to one of two possible disorders: Wegener's granulomatosis (AKA granulomatosis with polyangiitis ) or Microscopic polyangitis. They have ordered blood tests that can rule out or allow them to make a diagnosis of one of the two, but THERE ARE other disorders that are possible with the presence of these antibodies in the event that both are ruled out. They key is that this is most likely the origin of the kidney failure, therefore may be the key to being able to diagnose Cassie and then move on to finding a donor.
Other keys findings are that the doctors have ruled out that it is hereditary, which as I am sure you understand was a relief to Cassie's parents because this isn't something they have to worry about in Cassie's siblings.
Where do we go from here? They will be inserting a permanent catheter tomorrow morning which will enable Cassie to have more mobility and is much more comfortable than the ones she has now.
While we pin down a diagnosis and continue dialysis, Cassie will remain at U of M until next week. Then, she will go home, however she will be returning to the hospital in Ann Arbor 3-4 times a week for 3 hours at a time for her dialysis. The goal is to get her systems stable again so that they can be ready to receive a transplant under the best conditions. This is expected to anywhere from 3-6 months.
The family will be constantly at the hospital and going back and forth between picking up the other siblings and attending dialysis appointments.
Between gas for transportation to and from the hospital, as well as quickly accruing medical costs, the family would appreciate anything you can do to help defray from these costs.
Organizer
Stacey Paige
Organizer
Perrysburg, OH
