Oakley's Kidney Transplant

 The Backstory: Oakley Carlson just turned Three years old. He has a great personality and is a smart, charismatic kid. When he was born, we spent 2 months in the NICU at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, IL. He had multiple surgeries to address issues related to VACTERL association. Each letter is a system in the body that is affected. The association affects Oakley in almost every system. He has had close to twenty surgeries to correct some of these. The next step will be to take care of the Renal (R) system with a kidney transplant.


(Oakley posing with a nurse for Lurie's)


(Oakley waiting for test results on a rainy day)

                Upcoming Event: Oakley is currently on PD dialysis every night. He takes multiple medicines through his G-Tube and daily Growth Hormone injections. His kidney function has slowly decreased since birth. He is currently in Stage 5 Kidney failure. We have just done the transplant workup and his mother, Bailey, is a healthy match. In September, Bailey will take the difficult and sacrificial act to donate one of her kidneys to Oakley. This is only a small picture of what she is willing and eager to give for him. This will also be a chance to correct more anomalies in Oakley as he has a few other problems connected to the system. 

(Oakley seeing himself on a Bus Ad on Chicago and Fairbanks Ave)

                Reason for Need: Oakley’s health required his parents to change career expectations and paths. His father started working as a Hospital Chaplain to live in proximity to a hospital and to be a support for families having trouble with their health and well-being. His Residency year ends at the beginning of September. During this time, Bailey and Jake will be unable to work for the duration of recovery for Bailey and Oakley. We are asking for financial support from the wider community so we are able to have the worries of costs and finances taken care of for two months while we focus on the health of our family

                Estimate Costs: We should be able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Chicago, which is a great place for families and kids to have available during medical procedures. There will be the monthly costs already existing such as rent, electricity and automobile expenses of around 1500 a month. Additionally, we will have expenses for travel (at least an hour one way), parking in Chicago for extended periods ($15 per 24 hours at the hospital), affording food and other related expenses. Jake will be with Oakley for his recovery period of at least two weeks and Bailey will need to recover at home after the transplant as well. 

                How You Can Help: This is our first time starting a GoFundMe page. We have had recommendations from Hospital staff since Oakley was born but at this time the need is more apparent since the recovery will be more extensive. We have received a lot of support during the course of Oakley’s life but with this page we can open that up to tangible gifts to help us during this next step. We have a community in our local town who will be helping us in a variety of ways as well but for those who are not near us a donation option is heartily welcomed and appreciated. Please Share this page in any way you are able as this will help get the word out.

(Oakley as a baby during his initial NICU stay)

                Our Involvement: We have a Facebook page which functions as an updating system for Oakley’s medical journey. Please get involved with us on that social platform as well. We will be updating this page with new information and details as they become known and available to us. We want any donors to know that their support is so helpful and appreciated and want people who care to be involved in his story.


We want to give a big thank you to anyone who wants to be involved with us!


(Oakley looking fly and enjoying "Pollipops")



(Oakley getting his head measured for correction helmet in Lurie's Ad)