A new year, new beginning...

The year 2013 was so phenomenal for us that it is hard to imagine how this year could ever compare, but we are ready for new beginnings. Parker is officially out of the "danger zone" with his immune system. For twelve weeks after transplant he was considered highly susceptible to anything and everything. The reason for this is that he received high dosages of IV anti-rejection medicine right after transplant. Those doses were strong enough that they knocked his immune system down for three whole months. We are extremely lucky that he has stayed as healthy as he has, especially with the dangerous flu season that has struck our area this year. Slowly but surely the bubble that we have tried to keep him in is fading away.

 Parker is starting to eat more and more. Just yesterday he completely ate half of a container of M&M minis. He let them melt in his mouth and actually swallowed them. Up until this point he would simply lick them and then discard them, so this is a huge milestone for him. The big question that EVERYONE asks over and over again is "How long does he have to have that tube?". The simple answer to this is- as soon as he can drink his required daily volume. It is an adult kidney, therefore, he has to drink the same volume that an adult is supposed to drink, or he risks damaging the beautiful new kidney that he was given. Each day he has to drink nearly a half gallon of fluid, and being that he wasn't a big eater or drinker before, he's having some trouble with this. We are working with some of the best therapists around to get him to eat and drink more, so hopefully he will have it out by end of summer.

In normal two year old fashion, he is into everything under the sun. He is climbing and digging in places that he never could before. His new thing is climbing on and off of the sofa as quickly as he can. He also loves climbing on and off of his scooters, which was a bit of an issue for him before since his legs weren't quite long enough to get over the scooter. He loves busting in on you while you are bathing, especially now that he knows how to open doors. So if you come to our house for a visit, be sure to lock the bathroom door behind you or you may have a surprise visitor.

His daily schedule is much more flexible now without the dialysis machine, so this weekend, while we had a warm spell, we took him to the zoo for his first trip. He loved it! Walking the entire zoo is something I didn't think that he would ever have the energy to do, but he proved me wrong. He spent very little time in the stroller, and loved climbing on the railings to see the animals.

Looking back at old lab reports from our dialysis days, I can't believe how healthy my baby is now. Things that fluctuated severely high or low before, like Potassium, Phosphorous, Sodium, and Calcium are completely stable now. His creatinine is holding stable at 0.1, which is near perfect. Last month he even had a report of less than 0.1, which is nearly unheard of! His doctors are all mind blown by this, because it's definitely not the norm for them. At the end of March we get to discontinue several medications and go to once a month clinics at the hospital, which will be wonderful!

We are finally dealing with "typical" toddler health issues. Parker has consistently had fluid build up in both of his ears for some time now. It is severe enough that he has failed parts of his hearing test because of it. It was always pushed to the back burner due to dialysis and transplant, but next month we finally get to correct it with tubes. Hopefully, this will do the trick and my baby will start babbling out new words soon.

Since transplant he has become such a "big boy" compared to before. This is just a few pictures to show you how big he thinks he is. 

His big boy sofa..

His big boy hair cut..

His new "cheese!" face..

I am a big boy and I don't need a diaper! 

Santa Clause is coming..

This year Christmas had far more meaning to us than it ever has. Our one and only wish was finally answered, and by such an amazing, caring woman. Parker has been given the greatest gift of all, and we could not have ever fathomed that his results would be so amazing.

If I go back in time to last year, Parker was so sick. We didn't leave the house at all Christmas day due to fever, breathing complications, and blatant refusal to eat. A few days later we ended up admitted to Children's Hospital with severe RSV, and came home with a feeding tube. This year we were able to spend the day at home with a happy, healthy little boy, who had enough energy to play hard all day long. Family and close friends were able to spend the day with us and I sat back and thought, "It doesn't get much better than this!".

We give all of you credit for where we are today. If it weren't for the power of prayer and the community rallying around us to show support, Parker would not be where he is today. So from our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Two month Kidney-versary

Today makes exactly two months since my son received the most amazing gift ever, his new super kidney. Somehow, though, it feels like it's been 2 years. So much has happened in such a short period of time that I don't think we've stopped to remember how recent it really was. We left Philly on November 20th and made the long trek back home in record time. Honestly we were beyond ready to be home, and it was really starting to take a toll on us. Philadelphia is a great city, and we enjoyed the experience, but there really is no place like home. We got out of there just in time, too, because the snow has officially started. Just today they received 4-6 inches, and lets be honest, neither Jason or I know how to drive in that.

As soon as we got home we met with his new transplant team in New Orleans, and started adjusting to their protocol. They do quite a few things different here than our team in Philadelphia did. For instance, in Philadelphia, or goal for his tac level (the level of rejection medicine in his blood) was always between 8 and 10. Here in New Orleans, however, they like to keep the tac level between 10 and 15 during the first three months. This alone has been a lot for us to get used to. His tac level is critical- too little can allow the kidney to reject, and too much can be toxic. When his tac level came back at 11.4 last week, and they didn't lower his dosage, Jason and I were both crawling out of our skin. Another thing that our New Orleans team does different is administering a third prophylactic antibiotic called Valcyte. Valcyte is used to protect Parker against an infection called CMV. Once you contract CMV your body will retain the infection for life, which makes it extremely difficult to find someone who is CMV negative. This is why our team was extremely shocked that Parker's donor, Patty, was CMV negative. They said the odds of that are really rare. Our team in Philadelphia decided that since Patty was negative, there was no need to give the antibiotic, because he was not exposed directly to the infection from her kidney. The team in New Orleans, however, prefers to be proactive and administer the antibiotic for 6 months just to be sure. It's not a very tasty medicine, either, so Parker is still getting used to it. Right now we have appointments twice a week- one for clinic in New Orleans and one for labs in Thibodaux, but starting next month we will go to New Orleans twice a month, and do labs here in town twice a month. Basically it means that we will have one appointment a week. It will be nice for things to start slowing down a bit, especially since I will be going back to work.

 Last week we finally got all of our paperwork and evaluations completed to start our therapy sessions again. Parker has progressed so much since surgery that even his speech and occupational therapists were shocked. He will actually put food in his mouth now, which he would never do before. Actually, before surgery he would scream bloody murder if you came near him with food. We are still working with him to use a spoon and chew, but these are aversions that will take time and patience. He will use sign language to communicate several words now, such as "please", "thank you", "more", "all done", and "down". His comprehension and motor skills are above his age level already. For example, when questioned he can identify his shapes.

Parker has also come a long way with some of his previous anxieties. He is no longer afraid of water or grass, which was a very big issue for him before. He was afraid to walk through doorway thresholds, up stairs, or stand alone in an elevator. Now, he does all of those as long as he is holding on to something or someone. He used to run away from the dogs, all the while screaming out of fear. The tables have turned and now they run from him out of fear.

So far all of Parker's labs have been amazing. In the words of his transplant team in New Orleans, "his kidney is working perfectly". We truly could not have asked for anything better, and know how blessed we really are. We are extremely lucky that we haven't had an major complications along the way. If you don't see as many posts as before, we apologize, but we are out there living life now that we don't have a dialysis machine holding us back! It is so awesome!

Monumental Moments Part 2

The weather forecast for today called for snow. As most of you know, we don't see that much in Louisiana, so we were a little excited. When we got up this morning, though, we were a bit disappointed. There was no snow to play in, so instead we decided to go up to the pool deck to get out of the room for a bit. It is indoors, but is a glass enclosure. It's nice and warm, and you can see most of the city up there. Then we got an idea. The pool is heated! So, we took Parker for his first swim and he LOVED it! I cannot wait for next summer now. 

And of course we needed a snack after.

Needless to say, he is pooped!