THE LIFE OF HER TWO YEAR OLD SON. I THINK I GET DOUBLY SPECIAL TREATMENT TODAY FOR VALENTINE’S DAY AND ORGAN DONOR DAY AND ONE. SO THE SHAWNEE FAMILY IN WESTMINSTER IS A CLOSE ONE, AND SIBLINGS JULIET, VIOLET AND ZACH LOVE THEIR BABY BROTHER HANK, WHO IS JUST FILLED WITH JOY AND
LOADS OF PERSONALITY. HE’S ALSO RUNNING AROUND WITH HIS MOM’S KIDNEY. UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN HE WAS BORN, HE HAD TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE NICU AT JOHNS HOPKINS CHILDREN’S CENTER IN BALTIMORE AND STRAIGHT ONTO A VENTILATOR. AND THEN HE HAD TO START DIALYSIS AT JUST THREE WEEKS OLD. AND SO THERE WAS A LOT OF
QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER HE WAS EVEN GOING TO SURVIVE OR NOT. AND IF HE WAS ONLY GOING TO LIVE A FEW HOURS. HANK WAS BORN WITH UNDERDEVELOPED LUNGS, WHICH PRESENTED ITS OWN SET OF PROBLEMS. BUT HE ALSO HAD TWO DAMAGED KIDNEYS BECAUSE OF A LOWER URINARY OBSTRUCTION IN UTERO.
HE SPENT THE FIRST SEVEN AND A HALF MONTHS OF HIS LIFE IN THE HOSPITAL. AND HE WOULD NEED A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT TO SAVE HIS LIFE. JESSICA WAS A MATCH, AND ONCE HANK WAS BIG ENOUGH AND HEALTHY ENOUGH, DOCTORS WERE ABLE TO DO THE TRANSPLANT. LAST AUGUST. IT WAS A RELIEF.
YOU KNOW, WE WERE SCARED THAT HE WAS GOING TO HAVE TO GO ON A WAITING LIST TO HAVE HIM HOOKED UP TO A MACHINE EVERY SINGLE DAY HERE AT OUR HOME FOR 10 TO 12 HOURS A DAY. WE COULDN’T TRAVEL WITHOUT THE MACHINE. IT WAS SAVING HIS LIFE.
SO JUST TO BE OFF OF THAT WAS JUST LIFE CHANGING FOR ALL OF US. I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT AND I WAS TOO, THAT A CHILD RECEIVES A KIDNEY FROM AN ADULT. I WANT THE KIDNEY TO KEEP DOING A GOOD JOB.
I WISH I HAD MORE TIME BECAUSE I DON’T. A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT DOESN’T LAST FOREVER, FOR HE WILL MOST LIKELY NEED ANOTHER ONE IN HIS LIFESPAN. AND SO THEN I MIGHT BE LOOKING AT DAD MORE. AND WHILE THE SHOCK KNEES HAVE SO MANY REASONS TO SMILE, THEY WANT TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT
THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGAN DONATION. ACCORDING TO INFINITE LEGACY, THERE ARE MORE THAN 4000 PEOPLE IN THE MARYLAND AND METRO DC AREA WAITING FOR A TRANSPLANT, AND THERE’S OVER 100,000 PEOPLE ON A WAITING LIST HERE IN THE UNITED STATES FOR AN ORGAN AND, UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE DIE EVERY DAY.
NOT EVERYBODY CAN BE A LIVING DONOR, YOU KNOW, IT’S INTIMIDATING AND NOT EVERYBODY IS WOULD BE ELIGIBLE. BUT TO AT LEAST CONSIDER BEING A DECEASED DONOR, YOU CAN GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE, YOU KNOW, EVEN AFTER YOU’RE GONE. AND YOU CAN REGISTER THROUGH THE MOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION OR INFINITE LEGACY. ORG.
IT TAKES JUST TWO MINUTES TO REGISTER ONLINE AND TO FIND A LINK, JUST HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE
