Two years ago on this day, my hero wife Karen donated her kidney to our son Sawyer. So, today we celebrate
New Life Day or, as Sawyer affectionately refers to it, "Kidney Day".
In some respects the
two years have gone by quickly. However,
Sawyer suffered so much between the kidney failure and transplant, that it
seems like a very distant memory now. Distance
is good. We can appreciate looking back
only to realize how far God has carried us since those difficult
days. We are grateful for where we
are today.
Sawyer's kidney has
been performing like a champ. What more
could you expect considering the awesome (and beautiful) donor? All of his labs have been very encouraging
and we are praying that Sawyer's new (46 year old) kidney will last much longer
than expected. We hope he sets a few new
records in the transplant world.
We've known since
birth that Sawyer was a fighter. Really, it's God's grace on him as He equipped
Sawyer for the battles he has already fought and the war ahead.
Day to day, Sawyer
does very well, but he is still challenged with the genetic syndrome that
continues to plague his body. In recent months Sawyer has started to become
more aware of his limitations or at least he communicates his frustration and
disappointment more often. Recently he
stood at the doorway looking out with tears in his eyes as his friends
played in our front yard at sundown. He
said to Karen, "I can't see. I'm
different than everybody else. I hate that I can't see. Can we talk to the doctor about fixing
it?" Sawyer's genetic syndrome
causes him night blindness and severe myopia.
Also, in the last
few months, he has been struggling through pain in his legs and hips. This is most likely from the bone dysplasia
which is also caused by his genetic syndrome. Being the tough guy he is, we
really don't know how much pain he wrestles with physically and emotionally,
but we know it's daily.
Sawyer is so
tough. I vividly remember him waking up
from transplant surgery asking for his sword, chocolate milk and Doritos. He could barely speak. He only had one arm mobile and he was hardly
strong enough to use it. However, he did
use that one arm to wield his sword, gulp down the chocolate milk and Doritos
(his first meal post-surgery) and lick the Dorito dust off of his fingers (his
favorite part of the Dorito experience).
Tonight, we
celebrate New Life Day with chocolate milk and Doritos (maybe a few wings
too). We are grateful for God's
faithfulness and provision to this family.
We cherish everyday with each other.
Thank you for your
continued prayers for Sawyer. We are
overwhelmed and greatly blessed by the number of people who pray for him often
and some still pray daily. So many have walked this journey with us and we
cherish you too
