Emily was very excited about becoming a 7th grader and starting a new school where she could be with all of her friends. As you well know, before starting 7th grade, you need to finish your immunizations. We met with the nurse practitioner at the clinic that day to get her shots and like any other child they placed Emily through a battery of tests and also checked her blood pressure more than once – every time it was very high. We blew it off to white coat syndrome. Then the nurse asked me if I had any concerns about Emily. At this point I asked to have her thyroid tested due to family history. After a week, the test results came in and they showed abnormal thyroid. The nurse sent Emily to an Endocrinologist in Jackson. 

We got to the Endocrine doctor and here they also checked Emily’s blood pressure. Again, more than once. Again, it was very high. Her doctor was concerned so he did a CBC on her. On Labor Day 2018, I received a text on my phone that Emily has an appointment at the Pediatric Nephrologist. I had no idea why as I hadn’t heard the results of the last appointment. In September 2018 we went to this appointment and right away the doctor didn’t like what she saw. So she ran more tests and sent us home. We got a call at 9 that night with a frantic doctor on the other end explaining we needed to have Emily at the hospital at 9:30 the next morning. Several more tests were ran along with lupus. Everything was coming back negative. Emily’s creatinine at this time was 3.5. They ended up doing a kidney biopsy that showed scarring on her kidney filters.

All in all, her diagnosis is Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis. We have no rhyme or reason as to why her kidneys are doing this. Her doctor said she is 1 in a Million. They tried large bursts of prednisone and also cytoxan. The kidneys just wouldn’t kick back into gear. Then the devastating news came that no parent wants to hear: Emily will need dialysis. She did hemo dialysis for 6 months where we were driving 3 days a week back and forth to Jackson, MS. That’s a lot of missing work, but with the support of family we made it work. In April 2019, we began PD. She has been doing better with PD but she still will need a kidney transplant. A kidney transplant is just another form of treatment. Medications and surgery are very expensive as well as travel expenses as we will be back and forth to numerous appointments, so we have partnered with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) for assistance with transplant-related expenses.

We have strong faith in our Heavenly Father and believe this is the path He has chosen for us. We will walk this path with Him by our sides. 

The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.