Donation protected
Hello friends and family of Xander (and maybe even kind strangers too).
Xander is my little 4 year old buddy who had a kidney transplant on August 31st 2022 when he was just 3 years old. He has been through so much in his little life so far: kidney failure, dialysis, his transplant, and what brings me to start a GoFundMe for him - his post transplant healing and recovery.
You see, kidney transplant patients usually take 3 or so months to recover and after that length of time one has typically settled into their new life with their new kidney. Xander had preschool lined up to start a few months after transplant, along with soccer, and swimming lessons too. He was so excited about all these things, but unfortunately he didn't get to go to any of them. A combination of him being particularly susceptible to various bugs (even for an immunosuppressed patient!) and an unseasonably hard cold and flu season, Xander would get illness after illness after illness.
Xander is now 9 months post transplant and since then has had 11 hospital admissions (or so!), and hasn’t been out of hospital for longer than 3 weeks at a time. At the time I write this, for 2023, Xander so far has been in hospital for over 50% of the year. The Doctors say in time it will improve but we don’t know how long it will be.
To add to all of this Xander recently was shown to have mild rejection in his new kidney. The treatment for this is to increase his immunosuppressant medications, which in turn lowers his natural immune defense even more. This makes him even more susceptible to illness and infection. You can see the vicious circle he is in.
Transplant was supposed to provide for a healthier, hospital free life but so far it hasn't been so at all. It is in fact harder than it was before his transplant, including his daily care. Living over half the time at Children’s Hospital is hard on a little guy, but it is also hard on his family. Staying with him and caring for him has become the primary job and focus of attention for Xander’s Mom. Careers have been put on pause, savings that were lovingly put aside for transplant recovery have been long depleted, and debt has mounted. Xander and his Mom have even had to move away from the Sunshine Coast where their roots were to a new home in Vancouver, for the primary purpose of being closer to Children’s Hospital.
This GoFundMe for Xander will pay for living expenses while he continues to battle through his recovery. Hopefully this will give them the relief they need as Xander continues to build a stronger immune system. His ultimate dream when he is all better is to “see the world, like New York where the Ninja Turtles AND Spiderman live”, here’s to getting him there as soon as he can!
If you’d like to follow Xanders transplant journey or read more about their journey join his Facebook group page here:
Thank you for reading this far, please consider sharing his story on your social media.
❤️ Chiara
Organizer and beneficiary
Chiara Iaquinta
Organizer
Gibsons, BC
Ana Pierron
Beneficiary