McKenzie is an active, loving, curious little seven-year-old. Even with her many medical challenges McKenzie continues to love life to the fullest and work hard at everything she does. She loves visiting her grandparent’s farm, where she fishes, goes on buggie rides, chases chickens, and just has fun being a farm girl. She is very social, loves being around children and playing games. Though she does have a weakened immune system, she enjoys going to school as much as possible and being with her classmates. 

McKenzie was born our perfect little girl; everything went as well as expected. She was developing and growing on track until she was around 8 weeks old. Around that time, a friend confirmed my suspicion that she was looking jaundiced and recommended we contact her pediatrician. Being a first-time mom, I didn’t think much of it; it’s common to hear about babies being jaundiced and just needing an extra light. I was imagining her becoming a little glow worm with those cute little sunglasses. However, after visiting her pediatrician the situation took a more serious turn, sending us directly to Children’s Mercy Hospital. At the hospital we were referred to the liver team to complete a biopsy and run more tests.

At 10 weeks old, McKenzie went through major abdominal surgery to confirm the doctor’s suspicions of Biliary Atresia. After the diagnosis was confirmed, the surgeons completed the Kasai procedure, which removed her gallbladder, blocked bile ducts from her liver and used part of her small intestine to recreate the bile duct system. This procedure was considered a success, but not without complications. 

Over the next year McKenzie’s health declined once again due to cholangitis, basically inflammation in the bile ducts. There were some other complications that required surgical attention. She ended up being hospitalized for over 45 days throughout her first year of life. Through daily medication and regular doctor visits, things started to settle for McKenzie. She finally started to thrive and remain in a “stable” state. We had to implement other sorts of therapies to help with her delays. As she continued to grow and develop, other issues came into play, the biggest concerns being cirrhosis of liver and portal hypertension. 

Due to cirrhosis and the permanent damage to her liver, McKenzie is required to have ultrasounds on her abdomen every 6 months. They are monitoring the bile pools developing on the outside of her liver that could potentially get infected. Also, her liver is very bumpy and misshapen due to the damage, causing portal hypertension. This is a problem because it slows the flow of blood and puts a lot of stress on the main vein that runs through the liver and causes high blood pressure. Another complication are the varices that develop along her esophagus and into her stomach. These expanded blood vessels can burst causing her to have internal bleeding and pass blood. In order to help prevent this, McKenzie has to have endoscopy procedures done yearly to band off any larger ones to prevent them from bursting. Based on McKenzie’s complications, the team has decided to list her for a liver transplant. We are anticipating a lot of need to not only prepare her for this life changing surgery but the post care, therapies, and the unimagined care that it will require. This is why we have partnered with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) for assistance with transplant-related expenses.

We continue to be blessed by you and your continued love and support! For that our WHOLE family thanks you!

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.