We are happy to report Vanessa is back in preschool where she loves to be!  Our darling little warrior girl was full of smiles and so eager to get inside her classroom. She was hurrying us along “Come on mama, come on dada, let’s go!”.  Vanessa was not able to finish preschool last year because she started hemodialysis.  She also missed the first quarter this year due to her transplant surgery. To be back at school alongside her peers learning and having fun is a special milestone for Vanessa! We are grateful to have the most supportive and compassionate team of teachers leading her this year.

How is Vanessa’s kidney doing?  Vanessa had an unexpected hospital stay earlier this month. Her transplant team’s protocol is to do kidney biopsies at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years post-transplant to get the most accurate look at the health of the kidney. We were not expecting her first one to happen until February of next year, but due to an abnormal test result it was moved up.  After a couple nights in the hospital and a long wait, we were thankful to hear the results were normal! Her transplanted kidney looks good and is not showing any early signs of rejection. She will not need her next biopsy until August of next year. And, some more good news…Vanessa will go from seeing her kidney doctor and getting lab draws twice a week to once every other week.  We have been going to Phoenix Children’s at least once a week since she was 2 months old. Not only does this mean more time away from the hospital, but also less frequent lab pokes. Lab draws have been a struggle for her, so this is wonderful news.