Gabbi needs a kidney
Donation protected
On 2/28/1999 at 31 weeks gestation a beautiful, stubborn,4lb 1oz. baby girl was born via emergency c-section, fighting for her life. Almost 24 hrs later I got to see her for the first time. She looked like a little new born bird, so frail, hooked up to all of the machines and tubes. 3 days later she was being transported CMC Main's NICU facility where that would be her home for the nex kot 33 days. It was touch and go for the next few days while the Doctors tried to figure out what was wrong with her. She wasn't concentrating urine, she was losing vast amounts of elctrolytes quickly, her weight was dropping, she was "forgetting to breathe", she was jaundice and her belly looked like an inflated balloon. At 5 days old she was finally diagnosed with Bartter Syndrome, a very rare, uncurable renal disease that she developed in utero which also caused my polyhydramnios during pregnacy and her life threatning pre mature birth. After 33 long days in the NICU we finally got to bring Gabriella Jane Childress home. But that wasn't the end of it. The months and years were followed by countless Nephrology appointments, needle sticks, lab work ups, ER visits, failure to thrive, muscle cramps, dehydration, ultrasounds , urine collections, medications..medications..and more medications. The weekly nephrology visits and labs turned into monthly visits then bi-monthly to twice a year. Meds were eventually reduced down to only 2 ( she is currently on 6 different meds twice a day)! She was hospitalized for a week at age 4 and we have been fortunate that that has been the only hospitalization necessary.
Now here we are today, she's an unbelievably beautiful 17 year old, in the later part of STAGE 4 RENAL FAILURE with a tremendous amount of fear and worry. Back to Nephrology appointments every 3-4 weeks along with labs , and paving the road for a kidney transplant in the hopefully near future. We will attend her Transplant Evaluation 8/16/16 and meet with her Nephrologist and Renal Surgeon on 8/29/16.
This life of never feeling good,always exhausted, and uncertainty that she has always known is coming to an end and just around the corner are much brighter, healthier, happier days for Gabbi.
Gabbi will soon start 3-6 months of dialysis and adventually receive a new, healthy kidney! :) (Prayers for a live donor for obvious reasons, and we don't have to be put on "the list"!)
During this LONG process, my husband Robert & I will be put in great financial strain due to copays,deductibles,coinsurances,out of pocket costs, and especially the time we will be out of work while Gabbi has the surgery and is recovering and we are taking care of our daughter. She will be unable to attend school for atleast 6-12 weeks ( she starts her senior year this month, she will miss her first day though due to meeting with the surgeons) ,maybe longer, due to her recovery process and diminished immune system and will have multiple weekly visits to the Nephrologist in Charlotte to ensure her body is accepting the new kidney and it is functioning properly, which will also cause loss of income. Along with medication monitoring and consistent blood draws, she will be on 12 or more anti-rejection medications and the copays for those will be costly in itself.
I struggled within myself to even create this GoFundMe page, but the reality is ..... This will be way more than we can comfortably chew. If all you can offer is prayer, well wishes, positive vibes, good mojo, that will mean the world to us! And we THANK YOU!
And if you are able to offer monetarily, that also means the world to us! And we THANK YOU!
SO.... here we go. Let this journey begin..........
Sincere love & gratitude,
Stacey (Gabriella's mom)
Organizer
Stacey Odom Hilton
Organizer
China Grove, NC