Dax Versus the Volcano

Hi, my name is Catherine and I'm fundraising for a sweet 5 year old boy named Dax and his amazing adoptive family, the Abercrombies. Dax was born with kidney disease, which has quickly progressed to end stage kidney failure requiring dialysis. Tragically, Dax has had two failed kidney transplants, including one from his adoptive father Brad. The failed kidney transplants have nearly cost him his life and now mean that he needs hemodialysis at the hospital 3 times a week for several years until he is big enough to attempt a third kidney transplant. Dax is OBSESSED with volcanoes and the family's dream had been to celebrate a successful kidney transplantation with a trip to Hawaii to see real volcanoes and lava. Now that Dax's life is dependent on hemodialysis, a trip seems out of reach. With so many dreams taken away from Dax and his family, I want to help restore at least one dream: the ability to go to Hawaii for a month so that Dax can still see beautiful volcanoes in person and so that the family has a chance to heal and recover from the past 18 months of devastating surgeries.

The Abercrombie's medical journey with Dax has been traumatic for not just Dax, but also for his parents Brad and Arynn and his sisters Ella, Claire, Naomi and Amelia. Brad has sacrificially given one of his own kidneys to Dax, only for it to die. Their hopes that a second kidney transplant would be successful were cruelly crushed when an aneurysm formed at the site of transplantation and caused catastrophic hemorrhaging. The four sisters have had numerous prolonged forced separations from their parents and brother due to Covid-19 isolation requirements as well as critical life-death situations for Dax which required their parents to be by his side in the ICU for days and weeks at a time. Dax has now lost 3 kidneys (1 of his own plus 2 transplanted kidneys) in 18 months and is sicker now than he has ever been, his life tied to the hospital.

Dax is blessed to be surrounded by an incredibly supportive medical team who acutely feel the pain of his medical trauma and are willing to arrange for pediatric hemodialysis in Hawaii for a month should the monetary funds be raised. While a Wish Trip can be pursued for Dax, a Wish Trip is only for 1 week --- which is not much of a reprieve when half of that time needs to be spent in the hospital. My dream for the family is to be able to raise $70,000 so that they can spend a month in Hawaii and be able to pay for pediatric hemodialysis ($500 USD 3x/week x 4 weeks), pediatric nephrology follow-up with local pediatricians (private payment which could be upwards of $200 USD 3x/week x 4 weeks), medical insurance (Dax's life-threatening condition makes medical insurance very expensive), as well as time and money just to be able to enjoy Hawaii, see the volcanoes, and rest and recover as a family from all the trauma they have been through the past 18 months.