With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant families are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-related expenses. In Greenfield, volunteers are raising funds for COTA in honor of transplant patients like local infant, Hudson Schrank.
Hudson is the son of Jessica and Bryan Schrank. Born in 2016, Hudson was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease. The doctors at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana, have recommended a life-saving kidney transplant. An estimated $50,000 is being raised by Greenfield volunteers.
Hudson was born at 35+5 weeks gestation on March 13, 2016. He came early due to a full placental abruption which resulted in an emergency c-section. He was born gasping for air with a dangerously low blood pressure. We think he went about 7 minutes with a complete lack of oxygen and blood supply. After a very scary delivery, Hudson was intubated and taken to the NICU where he was in a critical but stabilized condition. He needed 6 blood and platelet transfusions along with various medicines to help get him stable. However he wasn’t out of the woods yet. After 24 hours we realized there was a problem: Hudson wasn’t passing any urine. By day 3 Hudson was swollen, still not passing urine, and the toxins building up in his body were causing him to have sub-clinical seizures. An MRI showed the lack of oxygen at birth also caused damage to multiple spots in his brain on both hemispheres. By day 6, Hudson wasn’t improving and he was transferred to Riley Children’s Hospital.
After getting settled in, we were able to meet with his NICU team at Riley. They sat us down and told us that Hudson’s kidneys were not working at all and they were unsure if he would be a candidate for dialysis. His MRI also showed lots of bruising on his brain indicating he may have lots of brain damage. They discussed the possibility of putting Hudson in hospice care. However, we knew that it was up to God who gives and takes life, not us. Therefore, we wanted to try everything possible to give Hudson the best chance at life. After lots of prayers, the faithfulness of God, and the confidence of the surgeon, Hudson had his peritoneal catheter placed at 10 days old. After a 46 day hospital stay, Hudson was able to come home on dialyisis that ran for 14 hours each night.
Today, Hudson is a very happy almost 2 year old who is thriving! By the grace of God, he shows no neurological delays! He is currently on 10 hours of dialysis, takes 9 daily medicines to help balance his electrolytes, has monthly renal appointments and labwork done, and has weekly therapy sessions with PT (physical therapy), OT (occupational therapy), DT (developmental therapy), and ST (speech therapy). Being on dialysis does cause delays in eating and meeting milestones. Dialysis can remove some of the toxins in his body but not all. Having all those yucky toxins in his little body make him feel sick throughout the day. He often gags and does vomit 1-2 times a day. He no longer eats anything by mouth and is 100% g-tube fed. Hudson has had 8 abdominal surgeries. Due to those surgeries and the repeated filling and draining of dialysis, he has had to learn how to re-strengthen his abdominal muscles. He started walking around 20 months old and is now practically running.
Hudson was referred for transplant at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital! We later found out that both mom and dad were blood and tissue matches but decided that dad (Bryan) will be moving forward in the evaluation testing to see if he will be a donor for Hudson. Dad was approved to be Hudson’s donor and transplant took place on March 13, 2018, which happended to be on Hudson’s 2nd Birthday! Since transplant, Hudson has thrived and is growing! He has so much energy, started babbling, repeating words, and recently started showing an interest in licking lots of new foods. If you’d like to continue to follow our post transplant journey, please follow Hudson’s Trials and Triumphs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HudsonRyleSchrank
Thank you for your support and prayers!