Surgery and Dialysis at the U of M...
Along with declining kidney function and all the nausea and sickness over the last year and a half, it's been an ongoing struggle to control Patrick's fluid retention, blood pressure and potassium. Too much and too high is very dangerous, so when Patrick woke up last Monday morning extremely swelled up in his lower extremities with a drastic weight increase, they went to the U of M to begin the process of starting dialysis. After a day of trying to get his BP and fluid retention under control, Patrick underwent surgery to put a tube in his abdomen for dialysis. Surgery went well and they began dialysis just hours later. The first night went well, aside from some discomfort for Patrick, but by the second night, some of the dialysis fluids started leaking and dialysis had to be stopped. They were then sent home so Patrick can heal from his surgery for a week before they go back to the U of M this Friday to start dialysis again. In the meantime, Patrick is on very strict diet and fluid restrictions and has to be closely monitored at home. Needless to say, Patrick and his mom were very happy to get out of the hospital and come home for the week.
Peritoneal Dialysis...
Patrick and his mom, Laura, have chosen to do Peritoneal Dialysis, which means that Patrick can be on dialysis at home. Dialysis will purify his blood and remove toxins, which is what his kidney should be doing, but is not. He will be hooked up for 10-12 hours every night and Laura will be going through special training to learn how to do this. Hopefully dialysis will help reduce some of the nausea and sickness Patrick's been feeling and allow him to have better days. Click here to learn more about Peritoneal Dialysis.
A Happy 16th Birthday...
Patrick celebrated his 16th birthday in February with a fun day of bowling and food with family and friends. Patrick was feeling pretty good that day and we all had a great time. It's so hard to believe that little Packy is 16 already... how the time flies!
Patrick's 3rd Birthday... 13 years ago...
and now...
Patrick and Mom
Patrick and his buddies
Expanding the search...
We are still trying to come up with ways to reach out to more people. We have done what we can to spread the word locally, but now we need to take our search to a new level and spread the word statewide and even nationally. We recently sent out packets with fliers, wristbands, etc. to friends and relatives hoping they will help spread the word in each of their communities. We will be sending out more packets in the near future, this time to Minnesota churches, and after that... who knows, maybe long shots like Oprah and Dr. Oz?? We're also in the process of setting up another billboard which will be displayed near St. Cloud with 20,000 plus cars going by per day. As always, we are very optimistic that our efforts will pay off and a donor for Patrick will be found. Please email us at snyder555@arvig.net if you'd like fliers to distribute in your area. We also have wristbands, bumper stickers and business cards.
On a more personal note... it's difficult for us to see what Patrick and his parents are going through and how his kidney failure has affected and changed their lives. Patrick is still unable to go to school and is missing out on so much at age 16. He has every right to feel like it's not fair, but yet at age 16, he's handled it all so well, without complaining and better than many adults in his situation would. We all just want to see Patrick get better and back to living like a typical kid again. More importantly, we want to keep him around to live a long and happy life. Please... help us make it happen... spread, spread, spread the word anyway you can think of AND if you haven't been tested yet and you're in good health, please consider giving Patrick the greatest gift of all... the gift of LIFE.
