The time has come for Benjamin to have a kidney transplant. The amazing news is that Sean will be the donor. It is scheduled for Tuesday, 9/30, at UCLA. Benjamin’s surgery is expected to last approximately 3-4 hours and then he will stay at the hospital for about 1 week. Benjamin’s native kidneys will stay in place. Sean’s surgery will be quicker and his hospital stay will be about 2 days. Fortunately, we will have lots of help at the hospital and around the house. Julie’s parents, Sean’s mom and Sean’s step-mom will all be in California at some point during the first month.
Post-transplant, Benjamin will stay home from school for approximately 3 months to avoid germ exposure. A teacher will come to our house about 5 hours per week, so he doesn’t get behind in school. This will also help keep him occupied since he will be missing his friends and looking for things to do.
Various doctors have told us the transplant is not a cure for him. Essentially, he will be trading one medical condition for another. While that may sound a little scary, the transplant will have many benefits for him like more energy, better growth, and less restrictive diet (more pizza!). He will be on completely new medications. His body will want to treat his new kidney like a foreign invader, so he will be put on various medications to help his immune system deal with the transplant. These will be become part of his new regimen for the rest of his life.
Benjamin is an absolutely amazing 8 year old. He has a very interesting combination of creativity and logic. He loves to build and “invent” with Legos, K’nex, or any other supply around the house. He asks very thoughtful questions and loves to learn about space. Maybe we have another engineer or scientist in the making. He is also incredibly loving. We still get voluntary hugs from him every day. He brings much joy to our lives.
This next stage is a little scary for all of us, but we truly believe it is best for him. He is in great hands at UCLA where they do 30 pediatric transplants per year. There will be lots of things for us to learn and various complications over the coming months, but it will all be worth it. Benjamin is a cool kid!
Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support!
2 comments:
Benjamin definitely is a cool kid! Oh, and he's got a very cool dad! Now that I think of it - the Buckley's are an entirely cool family! We're thinking about Benjamin (and Sean) a lot this month.
Thanks for blogging again. I need to get back to it too. I do enjoy it. We are thinking of and praying for all of you and wish we were closer to help too. Love you all very much!!
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