For those visiting this site for the first time, please see the link to the left labeled "Beginnings".
Eric and Jeff only days after the transplant
Eric and Jeff with Dr. Robert Montgomery, Eric's transplant surgeon
Friday, October 3rd, 2008 Update
For those that have been following Eric's quest for a kidney transplant, Eric and his family have been in Baltimore, Md since September 22, 2008 to begin Eric's plasmapheresis treatments leading up to his scheduled transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
During Eric's second treatment, complications began to arise. Eric developed a severe headache, stomach pains, chills and was unable to hold up his head. Shortly thereafter, Eric began having what looked to be seizures. Eric was admitted to the hospital and the doctors spent countless hours trying to figure out what was causing these seizure like episodes. During the second day it was determined that Eric was in fact not having seizures and it was brought up that Eric's level of his one medication that he recently began taking for the transplant was highly elevated and could quite possibly be the cause of these episodes. The following morning Eric stopped having these episodes and his condition greatly improved. He does not remember any of the two days he was having the episodes and is most likely better off not remembering them.
On early Tuesday, September 30, 2008, Jeff Hill, Eric's kidney donor and hero was taken to the operating room and shortly thereafter so was Eric. Later that day, Dr. Montgomery, Eric's surgeon, came out to the waiting room to inform us that Eric's transplant was a success and that the kidney began functioning right after it was placed into him.
Eric's creatnine level, which is a measure of how well his new kidney is functioning, is absolutely perfect and the doctors are pleased with Eric's progress. Eric is presently still in Johns Hopkins Hospital and will remain there until at least next week. Eric's donor, Jeff Hill is scheduled for release from the hospital as of today and will remain in Baltimore until at least next week to allow the hospital to monitor him.
Eric, as well as his family, would like to thank Jeff Hill for his selflessness in being Eric's kidney donor and hero for without him Eric would still be searching for a donor, would still have to receive nightly dialysis treatments and Eric's life would still be hanging in the balance of the quest for a kidney donor.
I will be posting any further updates to Eric's progress here on mykidneyquest.com as well as on Eric's MySpace site as they occur. We would like to ask everyone to please keep Eric in your thoughts because while Eric is doing great at this point, he is not out of the woods yet as there is still much ahead of him in the upcoming weeks.
Eric is scheduled for his kidney transplant on September 30, 2008 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. We would like to thank each and every person that has been tested to see if they were a matching donor for Eric and we would like to especially thank Jeff Hill, who is Eric's donor.
While Jeff is not an exact match for Eric, he is the closest match we have found to date. Eric's antibodies would attack and kill Jeff's kidney without the treatments available to Eric at Johns Hopkins. However, Eric will have to remain in Baltimore for a minimum of three weeks following his estimated one week hospitalization. Because of this, it was necessary to rent an apartment in Baltimore for a month which costs several thousand dollars and food and fuel expenses will definitely add up. Expenses for a month are estimated at $4,000.00.
We would also like to thank each and every person who has shown us support throughout this difficult time, whether it was by posting flyers, advertising this site and Eric's MySpace site, having our website lettering on their cars and sending all their best wishes to us. Without all of you, this would have been near impossible!
The fundraiser that was held on August 24th at the Fireside Bar and Grille in Ambler, Pa was a great success and will definitely help Eric and his family with the costs relating to Eric's transplant. The owner and staff of the Fireside were extraordinary and the food absolutely delicious!
We received many item donations from various companies in the area which were used as raffle prizes and many cash donations from people that attended the fundraiser as well as those that were unable to attend. To view pictures of the fundraiser as well as the list of the wonderful donors that made the fundraiser possible, please see the newly updated menu to the left.
If you are interested in making a donation to Eric and his family, donations can be made by Paypal and credit/debit cards using the donate link below.
