During pregnancy for Kayden, I was in a lot of pain and had to travel from my local hospital to Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital to do some testing. There I was told my son would be born a dwarf, then a midget, then we were told our child had no limbs down from his knees. When my hospital wanted to take Kayden early because of all the complications I was having, Dartmouth said no because he had fluid around his lungs and heart. Well, finally 37 weeks my hospital took Kayden born 8lbs 5.6oz – a chubby heathy baby. We noticed after we went home about a week or so he would just stay asleep; I would wake him to feed him. He was very quiet and puked a lot, so he was prescribed some oral meds for acid reflux. As he got older Kayden didn’t fit in with his age group; he was tiny and always tired and he learned a lot slower than the kids his age! And he still puked a lot! When Kayden turned 5 it tended to get worse. I took him back and forth to the doctor’s; he was always sick every morning, all day puking. They claimed he had a weak stomach and gave him acid reflux medicine.

9 YEARS LATER I finally got answers when a new doctor stepped in and noticed Kayden hadn’t grown or gained weight for 2 years straight and he just looked sick. He was tiny, he was a 4 year old in a 9 year old’s body. She ran some tests and I asked her to run other tests rather than ones that have already been ran! She did. I got a call later after hors saying bringing your son to the hospital immediately his kidneys are not working and if you don’t get him there NOW he may not live much longer. As I fell to my knees in hysterics, we brought him. I was told the doctor was correct and we needed to be transported to Albany medical center. From there on it has been between Albany and Boston children’s hospital. Kayden has stage 5 chronic kidney disease and we have found a live donor for Kayden. We are waiting on a date. Since he’s started on all his meds June 2021 he has grown, gained weight and now that he’s on dialysis he has energy — some days better than others. Kayden can fool you, he always said he had no pain, he wasn’t sick and he was fine … never thought this could be a thing for my child. He’s strong and brave and he had this disease his whole life and fought it without knowing anything!!!!

We have partnered with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) for assistance with transplant-related expenses. Please consider donating to COTA in honor of Kayden.

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.