Kidney for Frankie: Road to Recovery
As most of you know, back in November 2020, my father in law, Frankie Navarro, was experiencing tremendous pain and went to urgent care. They ended up sending him to the ER, discovered he had Covid, and then sent him straight to the ICU for a week to run tests only to receive the diagnosis of end-stage kidney disease and failure. Life as we knew it forever changed at that moment, especially as Frankie became more sick and weak over time. Frankie had to be on dialysis for 4 hours a day, 3 days a week, losing a lot of weight and strength over 10 months.
Fast forward to one of the best days ever. On August 11, 2021, Frankie and my mother in law, Christine, received a call from The Mayo Clinic in Arizona that would forever change our lives. A sweet soul lost their life, but generously gave the gift of life back to Frankie through organ donation. With just hours to pack for an unknown period of time, they got on a charter plane out of St Cloud airport and immediately flew down to AZ to receive the kidney. The kidney transplant took place on Aug 12 and everything went according to plan. What a relief! He was then discharged from the hospital by that weekend and is now residing in a hotel with Christine, who is his caregiver, where they must stay close to the hospital. They will need to stay there for at least a month for daily and then weekly check ups. It has been a trying and difficult time as Frankie has been unable to work and Christine is there to care for him. Medical bills are stacking fast and the medication needed likely for life are not all covered by insurance. Once they are back in MN, they will also need to travel back to AZ in 4 months and again in a year for check ups. This will be a lifetime of recovery and they need all the love and support they can get.
They are a very private family, but this was done with permission. Let’s show my family all of the love and support they deserve. Anyone that knows the Navarro’s knows what amazing, caring, loving, supportive, and loyal people they are. Christine has been the absolute glue to our family during this difficult time, all while making sure her husband was taken care of. She’s a human Angel on earth and has been so strong. All of the money donated goes straight to Frankie and Christine Navarro for medical care, and the cost of living so Christine can focus on taking care of Frankie and Frankie can continue to heal.
We appreciate every one of you that has supported physically, emotionally and financially, and shared the posts to help find Frankie a kidney. We could never thank you enough. Our prayers have truly been answered, and now we are just focusing on his road to recovery so he can continue to be the best husband, dad and papa. ♥️♥️
#KidneyForFrankie
~Paige Navarro