[ad_1]
Isaac Fletcher, 13, has been on the hunt for a kidney since 2019. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
He was diagnosed with kidney disease after a bout with E. coli. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Over the three years, Isaac had numerous hospital stays and routine visits to the dialysis clinic 3 days a week. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
He eventually suffered near complete loss of kidney function and was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2019. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac has become a familiar face at Corewell Health’s Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and has made many friends with his positive attitude and creative imagination. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Michelle and Kevin Fletcher, Isaac’s mother and father, were looking for a kidney for their son. They couldn’t find a match. After several tests, Michelle was about to give Isaac a special gift, one of his kidneys. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac and his mother would drive the hour from Ionia to Grand Rapids for dialysis appointments 3 days a week for 3 years, but soon they reached their last day. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Decorations hung from the ceiling where Isaac was dialyzed and spent many hours sitting and waiting in his chair. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
“He’s such a good boy and he’s so smart and stupid. He makes us laugh,” said Liz Orme, dialysis technician at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac and Michelle were greeted by a large sign reading “Good Luck Isaac and Michelle” with a kidney drawn on it. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Liz made chocolate frosted Funfetti cupcakes with sprinkles, a special request from Isaac, to celebrate his last day on dialysis. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac takes a big bite out of his chocolate-frosted cupcake. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac’s last hurray before the surgery included him and his dad attending a Winter Jam concert at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Michelle wore her super mom socks the night before the transplant. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
“It’s going to be really weird without Isaac on dialysis. We got to know him, his mother and his sisters so well over the years,” Liz said. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
“We’ve been preparing for the idea of a transplant for some time,” Michelle said. “It’s all just been surreal.” (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac and Michelle were placed side by side in the waiting room before the surgery so they could see each other before going to the operating rooms. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Kevin comforts Michelle before the operation and bids her farewell until he sees her recovering. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
“Isaac was both excited and nervous on the big day,” Michelle said. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Kevin plays with Cody, Isaac’s stuffed jaguar, to help calm him down before surgery. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Michelle is taken back to surgery while the operating room staff speaks with Isaac. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Daniel Borreson, MD, works to remove Michelle’s kidney. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Once Dr. Borreson is ready to remove the kidney, he waits for Joel Stracke, MD, to come in and get ready so he can then bring the kidney to the recipient immediately. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Dr. Stracke enters and prepares to deliver the kidney to Isaac. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Dr. Borreson prepares to remove the kidney for Dr. Stracke to then take in his Gold to prepare for the transplant. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Dr. Stracke prepares to transplant the kidney into Isaac. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac’s stuffed animal, Cody the jaguar, waits on Isaac’s hospital bed outside the operating room. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac only had to stay in the hospital for four days after the transplant. On average, pediatric patients usually stay a week in the hospital, but Isaac was recovering very well. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
After a month at home after surgery, Isaac is back to his normal routine and a better quality of life. All his restrictions have been lifted and he is back to playing with his cats on their farm in Ionia. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
He plays with Legos and video games, dances to music, and plays card and board games like Uno and Settlers with his four sisters Emma, Anna, Elliana, and Lillian. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac enjoys drawing different creatures from his vibrant imagination. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
The first thing Isaac requested after surgery was to hold his cat, Batman. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac gets back to an active life by being a big brother and running with his four sisters. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Isaac needs to drink plenty of water after the transplant. “They really want to push fluids to flush the kidney,” Michelle said. “And we were told that was the best thing to do.” (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
“We’re so super happy with everything,” Michelle said. “Everyone has been so helpful and everything has gone so well. It’s just surreal. (Taylor Ballek | Corewell Health Beat)
Since 2019, 13-year-old Isaac Fletcher and his family have been on a journey in search of a kidney.
In 2019, he was diagnosed with kidney disease after a bout with E. coli.
He eventually suffered near complete loss of kidney function and was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2019.
For three years, he and his mother Michelle would commute an hour from Ionia to Grand Rapids for dialysis appointments three days a week.
And Isaac has become a familiar face to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital of Corewell Health.
He made friends with patients and staff on his way to a transplant. Isaac and his family spent hundreds of days in the dialysis clinic playing bingo, watching cartoons or doing arts and crafts projects.
“What would you like to do on the last day of your dialysis? asked Mimi Rassi, child specialist.
“Video games, of course,” Isaac said.
After years of countless medical appointments, dialysis was coming to an end because Michelle was about to give her a special gift: one of her kidneys.
“He’s such a good boy and he’s so smart and stupid. He makes us laugh,” said Liz Orme, a dialysis technician at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
Liz made chocolate frosted Funfetti cupcakes with sprinkles, a special request from Isaac, to celebrate his last day on dialysis. Other team members stopped by with gifts and well wishes.
“It’s going to be really weird without Isaac on dialysis. We got to know him, his mother and his sisters so well over the years,” Liz said.
But they were thrilled that Isaac’s kidney transplant meant he wouldn’t need dialysis anymore.
The Child and Family team hung a hand-painted banner that read “Good luck Michelle and Isaac! with one kidney giving a thumbs up.
The long road to transplantation
“We’ve been preparing for the idea of a transplant for some time,” Michelle said. “It’s all just been surreal.”
She said the whole process took almost two years to come together, and after all that time, it seems kind of crazy that the day has finally come.
“Isaac was both excited and nervous on the big day,” she said.
His last hurray before the operation included him and his father attending a Winter Jam concert at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
A few days later, he and his mother underwent a transplant.
“We stayed in the hospital much less than expected,” Michelle said.
Doctors told him that the average child remains around a week after a kidney transplant, and because Isaac is so complex, it will likely take him longer to recover.
“Isaac was released after just four days,” she said. “He did so well.”
She said the first day he peed almost 13 liters.
“They really want to push fluids to flush the kidney,” Michelle said. “And we were told that was the best thing to do.”
And the good news: some of the problems Isaac and his family expected after the surgery, which he never faced.
home life
After about a week at home after surgery, Isaac is back to his normal routine and a better quality of life.
He plays with Legos and video games, dances to music, and plays card and board games like Uno and Settlers with his four sisters Emma, Anna, Elliana, and Lillian.
“He’s getting used to drinking so much after years of limiting his fluid intake while on dialysis,” she said.
Isaac was limited to drinking 1 liter of fluid per day during dialysis and should now aim to drink at least 2.5 liters per day.
And since his immune system is pretty much suppressed from anti-rejection protocols, he still doesn’t go a lot of places.
But Isaac and his mother are still going to the transplant clinic twice a week at the moment.
“We’re so super happy with everything,” Michelle said. “Everyone has been so helpful and everything has gone so well.”
“It’s just surreal,” she said.
[ad_2]
Source link
