Benji – Kidney Transplant Update
Benji’s kidney transplant coordinator recently called to inform us that Benji is once again active on the deceased donor list. This part of the process has been frustrating. He was tentatively approved last Fall, but then was pretty quickly made inactive when two specialties decided they wanted further testing and information. We hadn’t much more than gotten that done before we were notified that he’d been made inactive again because he’d missed his six month dental cleaning. He’d not been able to get that accomplished because our entire family had been exposed to Covid just prior to the visit and was therefore required to reschedule. The problem with rescheduling is that our dentist is pretty popular and one can’t just *get in* any ol’ time they want to. Our missed appointment was scheduled for the beginning of January and was rescheduled for the middle of April. Gah! It seems difficult for Benji to accrue much “real time” on the list because there’s always some reason he’s being made inactive. I know these requests are all so that he can experience the best outcome for future transplantation, but it is very aggravating nonetheless. Our coordinator assured us that all looks complete and caught up now, so hopefully Benji can spend some much-needed catchup time on the donor list.
FYI: The current wait on the deceased donor list is 2-4 years, and with Benji’s kidney function hovering at 17%, we are quite anxious to get some time under our belts!
The other part of the phone call was an update on any potential living donors. After our last blogpost went out, we had “several” people inquire on how to become a possible match for donating directly to Benji. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is not at liberty to tell us how many people are moving through the process, nor who they might be, so our information in this area is quite limited. And honestly, I’m glad for that. I don’t want to become so involved in the process that I begin to think saving Benji’s life is somehow my sole responsibility. That glory belongs to God alone. My only role is to be a mouthpiece of advocacy on Benji’s behalf. As of today though, per our transplant coordinator, “no one has been approved for initial labs for crossmatch”. So that simply means we need to rev up our prayer petitions and increase our advocacy efforts. We believe wholeheartedly that the Lord is behind and before us and is directing our paths. We merely need to take each unsure, yet faithful step forward and watch his glorious plan unfold.
If you’d be willing to consider kidney donation, we’d be ever so grateful. And if that’s not where you feel God is leading you, then please share our blog far and wide. We hope Benji’s donor is out there somewhere…we just have to get Benji’s need before the people and trust that God will do the rest.
From a song by CeCe Winans (that I have staked claim as Benji’s miracle song):
Love, move the unmovable / Break the unbreakable / From the impossible / We’ll see a miracle / God, we believe / God we believe for it!
sojourning His path 