My wife and I are longtime Portage residents.We are blessed to have two daughters, Lisa and Stacy.
Almost 2 years ago, Stacy contracted E-coli, which led to complete kidney failure, in a condition called HUS (hemolytic-humeric syndrome). She was extremely ill and ended up as a patient at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis numerous times since then. We had not heard of the condition previously, but the nurses and doctors informed us that they see the most cases of HUS around fair time, from ingesting tainted food. We believe our daughter actually acquired it from a kid's petting zoo, where she worked at that time.
It should be noted that not all E-coli poisonings result in kidney failure, but our girl was among the 5 percent that had irreversible damage to her kidneys.
Stacy had not felt real well for several days before she became ill with severely inflamed intestinal tract and no urine output. But this story does have a happy ending. We had her on a home dialysis every night but she was still plagued with constant nausea and severe headaches. Her condition made it impossible for her to stay in school regularly. Dialysis is just not the same as a real kidney. I was a match for a donor and was coming near the end of extensive testing to give her one of my kidneys.
This was in October of 2010. At the same time, we also got on a national transplant list but were cautioned that many people wait for years for an organ to become available. Ever since we started this journey with Stacy, we have been very aware of God's presence time and time again. So many miraculous things have happened and He has been with us every step.
Within 48 hours of getting on the list, a kidney from a 16 year old boy became available. Stacy had her transplant exactly one year to the day that she was first hospitalized! She is now back in school, working, teaching piano, going to the Prom and being a teenager again!
We are now celebrating her one year anniversary of her transplant on October 16, 2011.
I put together a video with clips and stills, and an original song from our time down in Indy. Stacy had asked me to play by her bedside when she was very sick.