Tylers Story

Tyler was born at 37 weeks. When he was taken to the nursery, they discovered he wasn’t breathing right. That was the first indication that there were problems.

It was later discovered that when he was developing, he had PUV (Posterior Urethral Valves) which is a blockage in the urethra. His was a partial blockage in his urethra so his urine was flowing both ways causing pressure on the bladder, ureters, and the kidneys. This caused the hydronephrosis of both kidneys. Also, because the urine was not all flowing the right way, there was little or no amniotic fluid-which caused his lungs to be under developed, causing his lungs to collapse as he took his first breath. He was flown to Seattle Children's Hospital within 36 hours after his birth.

One of his kidneys was not working at all, and the other only around 5-10%. He was on Peritoneal Dialysis at home, for 8 to 10 hours per day, from the age of 6 months until he had his kidney transplant at age 2.  We made monthly trips to Seattle while he was on dialysis and every other month until 2 years after transplant.

   

Our “pre-transplant” days consisted of trying to get Ty to eat so he'd gain weight for a transplant, but he didn't have much of an appetite. We fed him some of his formula through his G-tube. This is a tube that goes directly into his stomach and allows for us to hook a machine up to him and it pumps it into him at a slow rate. He also took a total of 9 medications daily. I had to give him an Epogen shot once a week and his growth hormone shot every day, which was no fun for either of us. But he is a tough little guy! We finished out the day by hooking him up to the dialysis machine. We had to take his blood pressure, temp, pulse & weight before & after each 8 to 10 hour session.

On September 17, 2008, I gave Tyler one of my kidneys!  He is doing VERY well and is an extremely active boy.  He is starting to eat & drink better on his own now!  He still has his feeding tube but it is only used for water (to ensure hydration) and to give him his medications.  He is now down to 5 medications that he needs twice a day!

We would like to thank everyone for all of your support and prayers.  He truly is our little miracle :)