2 year update

Wow! I can’t believe it has been 2 years already since Aidan was born. It goes by so fast. He is currently just over 25 lbs and 30.5 inches long. Two years ago he weighed 3lbs 11oz and was 15.5 inches long. Although he is small for his age and is not on the growth charts he is continuing to grow in the right direction. Aidan is making some great progress. He continues to crawl albeit an army crawl, but is moving very fast especially when he wants something. We have had to finally baby-proof the house and close the doors. He is so full of energy now that he has his new kidney and it is functioning properly. He is really trying to stand up on his own and pulling up on things. He is using his speaking valve for 1-2 hours 3-4 times a day. He laughs so much now it is so awesome to hear. He has this great big belly laugh. He is really starting to become a little boy. He is even throwing little temper tantrums. Our next major surgery will be his mandibular distraction sometime in the summer or fall. We want to thank everyone for their love and support.




Aidan when he was first born.


Aidan at his 1st birthday.


Aidan at 2. Wow what a difference.

January 25 to 31 - Happy Birthday Mom and Aidan

On January 26 we had Mommy’s, Aidan’s and Nurse Amy’s birthdays! Happy Birthday to us!!! Mommy and Daddy took Aidan to Toys R Us for the fist time. He absolutely loved it. He smiled the entire time we were there. Because it was his birthday he got a balloon, stickers, and a little crown. The transplant clinic visits continue to go well without any incidents or problems. As does the therapies with Early-On.

January 18 - 24 - Brithday Party!

We celebrated Mommy’s, Aidan’s, and nurse Amy’s birthdays along with Grandpa and Grandma Marino, and Uncle Tony at Benihannas this week. Aidan was enamored with the chef while he did his tricks. It was fun to watch. We then went over to Grandpa and Grandma Marino’s house to have some cake. Aidan sure made up for last year by smashing the cake all over the table and getting some on Daddy. Gifts from everybody included books, a toy chest, clothes, and money. Thanks everybody!


Aidan's Birthday Cake Before


Look mom



Having some fun with my cake



Look I have icing up to my elbows.

Aidan's Birthday Cake Afterwards

January 4 to January 10 & January 11 to January 17 - Fun Pictures and Video

Nothing much new to report over the last couple of weeks. The transplant clinic visits continue to go well without any incidents or problems. Early-On continues to come to the house every week for OT and PT therapies.

Aidan and daddy enjoying the BCS Bowl Game

Aidan enjoying the football game.

Aidan standing with some help from dad.

Aidan's new means of transportation

December 28 through January 3 - Date Night and New Years Eve

Mommy and Daddy went to see The Jersey Boys while nurse Stacie got to baby sit Aidan. Thanks nurse Stacie!! We had another transplant clinic this week which went well again. No problems to report. We spent New Years Eve at home while Daddy cooked a nice Alaskan King Crab dinner. Um, Um Good!

Daddy proud of his dinner he made. It was great.

Aidan enjoying time with mom and dad on New Year's Eve.

December 21 - 27 - Christmas

We had our first transplant clinic this week which went well. For the fist 2-3 months we have to go every week but then it decreases to every other week, then once a month. Daddy is very happy that we don’t have to get up early in the morning for dialysis anymore. We didn’t have a lot of time this year to bake cookies for everyone but we did make some for Santa. Christmas was awesome one again. We visited Grandpa and Grandma Marino on Christmas Eve and on Christmas. Grandpa and Grandma Troxtel were in town for the weekend and stopped by for a visit. Aunt Rachel also stopped by as well. Aidan got tons of stuff for Christmas; clothes, books, money, toys. All the things a young boy would want.

Happy little boy.

Making Christmas cookies for Santa.

Grandpa Marino, Aidan and Toula on Christmas Eve

Milk and Cookies for Santa

Santa really liked the cookies and left Aidan a note.

Christmas Tree after Santa stopped by

December 14 - 20 - Aidan's Coming Home

Aidan was able to come home from the PICU on December 18. What a happy little boy he was when we finally arrived home. We were all very happy to have him home before Christmas.

So happy to have a new kidney and to be home.

December 7 - 13 - Hospital Stay

Aidan spent the next 2 weeks in the PICU at Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan. Mommy and Daddy went to see him everyday. Aidan was kind of out of it for the first 3 days but after about 1 week he was ready to come home but the doctors wanted to keep him for a little longer.

Recovering in the PICU.

December 1 - 6 - Kidney Transplant

This week we started of with hemodialysis, an ENT appointment, a visit by Early-On, and an ESRD clinic visit. All went well especially the clinic visit since we got some of the greatest news we could have ever hoped for. We were told that there might be a potential donor for Aidan. Daddy told mommy as soon as we got home and she was very excited. She couldn’t believe it. I think she was in shock that it actually could happen. We waited all day and night until about 5PM when we got the call to bring Aidan in and get him prepped for the kidney transplant surgery the next day. Mommy and daddy never left the house so fast. We got Aidan to the hospital, signed paperwork, asked questions, and did not get any sleep. The surgery took place at 10AM the next morning on December 4; which also happens to be Grandpa Troxtel’s birthday. Happy Birthday Grandpa!!! Grandpa and Grandma Marino came to visit Aidan before the surgery. By the looks of him you would never know he was getting surgery, Grandma Lee and Ray came to the hospital later that afternoon to support us. The surgery was about 6 hours long. What a relief it was to hear that the surgery went well and while it was more complicated then they originally thought all was successful and working properly. He has about an 8 inch scar on his belly.

Aidan with Grandma and Grandpa Marino before surgery.

Aidan is so happy that this day finally came.

Being taken to the ER for kidney transplant surgery.

November 23- 30 - Visit with Santa and Thanksgiving

What a busy week Aidan had. We started off by visiting Santa at the mall and wishing for a kidney for Christmas. We then had family pictures taken at Sears to keep Grandma Troxtel working. Mommy and Daddy met with the lawyer to set up Aidan’s special needs trust. We had hemodialysis 3 times this week with no issues. We had our last PT appointment for the calendar year and paid a visit to ENT to remove some granulation tissue around the trach. They also decided to downsize his trach from 4.5 to 4.0 due to Aidan having issues with his speaking valve. Mommy and Daddy were able to spend a little time together and went on a day date for lunch and a movie. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Grandpa and Grandma Marino’s. Unfortunately we had to watch the Lions lose another game. Grandpa and Grandma Troxtel were in town for the weekend and stopped by for a visit. Aunt Rachel also stopped by as well. Aidan has learned a couple of new things this week. He is learning how to play peek-a-boo. He has really enjoyed discovering his pee-pee. He plays with it ALL of the time. Daddy caught him one night where he undid his diaper and had his hand all the way down there playing with himself. Aidan has also become a very squirmy-wormy. The boy does not want to sit still for one second. It makes it hard to do some of his care, but he is anxiously exploring his world.

Aidan with Santa

Family picture from Sears

Aidan in his pimp hat (1 of the many pictures from Sears photo shoot)

November 16-22

Hemodialysis runs went fine this week. Thankfully Saturday is the last home UofM game we have to deal with. What a nightmare traffic can be on game day. We did not go to speech therapy this week but have been practicing with Aidan’s speaking valve all week. He seems to be tolerating it a little better each day. Early on made another weekly visit; nothing new to report there again. We started OT again this week. We visited the ARC again this week to get some new toys to play with. Next week will be busy. Mommy has the entire week off. We are finally getting family pictures and Aidan will be visiting Santa as well. We will be having Thanksgiving over at Grandpa and Grandma Marino’s. Also, Grandpa and Grandma Troxtel will be coming in for a visit as well. We hope everybody has a Happy Thanksgiving. Gobble Gobble!!!

November 9-15 - Daddy almost got into a fight

Daddy almost got into a fight with some lady at Speech Therapy. Long story but needless to say the cops were called because daddy was threatened with bodily harm. Some crazy lady threatened to “punch him in the face”. Hemodialysis runs went fine this week. Early on made another weekly visit; nothing really new to report there. The foot doctors did add about an inch to Aidan’s prosthetic foot because he has grown so much.

Week of November 1 - Aidan's Baptism

Aidan had a very good week. He got to exercise in PT with his old friend Dan from the NICU. He had a very good speech session with Casey. His labs look very good and he was able to get his H1N1 shot in kidney clinic this month. Mommy got hers as well through Daddy’s doctor. There where no major problems with hemodialysis this week. On Saturday Aidan was baptized (finally). We just never had the opportunity and we were finally able to accomplish this important milestone. His Grandma Lee and Ray came down from up north for the baptism. Unfortunately his Grandpa and Grandma Marino were sick and could not make it and his Grandpa and Grandma Troxtel could not make it either. They were all there in spirit though. Aidan would like to thank everybody for coming and for the generous gifts. The family went out to eat at a really nice restaurant followed by some play time with Aidan and Grandma Lee. On Sunday Grandma Lee was able to give Aidan a bath. I think she and the little guy both really loved it. Aidan has made some great progress over the last few months. He is even starting to clap on a consistent basis and seems to be on the verge of being able to communicate (non-verbally with us). We will keep working at it. Well that is about it for this week. Talk to you soon. All our love.

Aidan's Baptism

Bath time with Grandma Lee



Having fun with Grandma Lee

Week of October 26th - Happy Halloween

We had a pretty fun week other than the orthopedic appointment debacle this past Monday. We started off by going to Chris and Megan Polak’s Annual Halloween party. Although we didn’t stay long it was nice to see our friends and get out of the house for a bit. Daddy went as a banana, Aidan was a monkey, and Mommy was a Goddess. On Monday we tried to get Aidan’s 6 month follow up x-ray for his hip. However, when we arrived for the appointment we were told that it would be about a 1 hour wait for his x-ray followed by a 2-3 hour wait to see the doctor. Needless to say we cancelled the appointment and returned home. We did get the x-ray at the University Hospital later in the week and as it turned out Aidan’s hip has gotten better and he may not need any surgery in the future after all. Later in the week we dressed Aidan up for his school pictures. He was a really good boy and his picture turned out really well. Hopefully we will get them before Christmas so we can send them out to everybody. Later that day the Early-On teachers stopped by and put Aidan on a Rody. It’s hard to explain so just check out the picture. Mommy had a chance to sing me one of her favorite songs. On Halloween daddy and I dressed up and hit a few houses for some nice tasty candy. Hopefully next year I will be able to hit some more houses and get some more candy.

School Picture

Aidan and Rody - We bought him his own Rody. He loves him.

Our little monkey

Week of October 19 - 25th, 2009

Aidan had a very busy week. On Monday we went to get him a hip x-ray as a follow up to earlier in the year. He has a small left hip alignment problem which will require surgery in the future. We would have waited 1 hour just to get the x-ray and then another 2-3 hours to see the doctor. The appointment was cancelled and Daddy made other arrangements. On Tuesday Aidan had his usual hemodialysis followed by a wheelchair evaluation. Aidan will be getting a new high tech stroller, high chair, and bath chair (if the insurance company approves) around February. On Wednesday Aidan had a visit from the Early On teachers which went very well. On Thursday we had hemodialysis followed by the rescheduled hip x-ray (we were done within 40 minutes) and then an endocrinology appointment. Aidan has been on growth hormone for about a month and it is showing. He has grown about ¼ inch in just the last month. On Friday Aidan had a small surgical procedure – he got another bronchoscopy (the ENT doctor wanted to look at the granulation tissue in his trachea and we upsized Aidan's trach. Everything went well and we were home by 12:30 that afternoon. On Saturday we had hemodialysis which took a bit longer because one of Aidan’s hemo lines was clotted. Later that evening we went to a Halloween party. We all dressed up and had a nice time at the Polak’s annual party. On Sunday it was just Aidan and daddy for most of the day since Mommy had a baby shower to attend. Aidan’s speech therapy will restart next month (we finally got approval after waiting 2 months) and we were able to make a dentist appointment in January to look at Aidan's green tooth. Well that’s about it for now. See you next week.

October 11-18

Aidan had a great week. He continues to “crawl” or at least attempt to and is making great progress. On Friday we went to The Arc of Michigan. It’s a place where you can “borrow” toys for a month at a time to see if your child likes the toy. You can then purchase the toy at a local toystore and know that your child already likes the toy. We also interviewed a back-up/on-call nurse on Friday that can fill in for our other two nurses when needed. Daddy had to go to a wedding in Chicago over the weekend so Mommy took Aidan to the craft show on Saturday. They then celebrated Sweetest Day with Grandpa and Grandma Marino with a nice dinner later that evening. Well that is about it for now. We have a very busy week coming up. We will update everybody next week.

October 4, 2009 – October 11, 2009

Aidan is doing very well. He continues to make progress in many areas. This week was exciting because Aidan received his min-wish from the Rainbow Connection. Here is their website so you can check them out http://rainbowconnection.org/. They are a great organization and we are very fortunate to be a part of their program. On Tuesday Aidan was visited by one of the representatives from the Rainbow Connection. They explained the program and gave us some history about the charity. The following day he received all of his gifts from the Rainbow Connection via Amazon.com. As you can see he was given many, many gifts that he enjoyed immensely. When he gets older he can decide for himself what he would like his big wish to be.

Mommy and Daddy also took Aidan to a new cider mill on Sunday. They had some animals for him to pet and a wooden cut out of an apple with a worm in it so you can take his picture. We picked up some cider and doughnuts and a few pumpkins for Halloween. It was pretty chilly so we did not stay long. Well that’s about it for this week.

10-5-09- Week of Sept. 28 through Oct. 4

We are going for 3 weeks in a row of nothing exciting happening. Erik and I are really starting to like this. Monday night mommy had suite tickets to the Tigers game but it got rained out and rescheduled for Tuesday. Unfortunately, Nurse Stacie was not feeling well on Monday so we had no nurse until Thursday. So that meant mommy could not go to the rescheduled Tigers game on Tuesday. Tuesday was a busy day for mommy, daddy and Aidan. We had dialysis in the morning from 7:30 am until 10:30 am. Then it was off to the physical therapist for some PT. Aidan did really well in PT. He was bearing some weight on his knees and trying to crawl up some stairs to get to a toy. It was really exciting to see him advance. I know that he is behind for his age, but he has really been active lately. Then after PT it was off to the ENT doctor. It looks like the next big surgery after the transplant will be something called Mandibular Distraction. Here is a website for you to look at about this surgery (http://www.pedsent.com/surgery/swfs/distraction/distraction.htm). We talked to the doctor a little bit about this surgery during our visit. We are thinking sometime next year for the Mandibular Distraction surgery. We also setup Aidan for surgery on November 16th. He is going to have some granulation tissue removed from his trachea, they are going to inserct a new trach one size bigger and then he will be receiving another bronchoscopy. Early-On came for another visit on Wednesday. They were very impressed at how much progress Aidan has made. Thursday was another trip to hemodialysis in the morning followed by kidney clinic and pulmonary clinic. Everything checked out ok for Aidan. On a lighter note, Aidan wore his University of Michigan gear to hemodialysis on Saturday for good luck but it didn't work as the Wolverines lost 26-20 to the Michigan State Saprtans. On Sunday Aidan wore his new Tigers shirt that Mommy got him on Monday at the stadium. That seemed to work as the Tigers won 5-3. He then switched to his Lions shirt but again that didn't work as the Lions were beaten badly by the Bears (Grandpa Troxtel's new team) 48-24. Well that's about it for this week. Thank you all for the support and prayers. We miss and love you all.

9-28-09 - Week of Sept. 21 through Sept. 27

Another quiet week for the Troxtel's. Monday we had no nurse because her family was sick. Dad just hung out with Aidan all day. Below is a picture I took Monday when I walked out of my office to get a drink of water:



Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday were dialysis days. Pretty uneventful.

Wednesday the early on team came to the house again and worked with Aidan.

Friday night Erik and I were able to go out for our anniversary. We went out to dinner, Best Buy to look for a new dishwasher then headed over to Target. We picked up a couple of Halloween outfits for Aidan.



Saturday Aidan wore his Michigan outfit that Grandma and Grandpa Marino got for him:



Sunday we gave Aidan a bath in the tub. He was a little weary in the beginning but then realized that he was able to kick his feet under the water and had a great time.





After the bath we put Aidan in his Lions shirt that daddy got for him from the game last week. The shirt must have worked because the Lions won for the first time in over 2 years. Daddy is convinced that Aidan wearing his shirt on Sunday helped the Lions win and he stated that Aidan has to wear it every Sunday now.

The big news for the week is that Aidan crawled a little on Wednesday. We were so excited. It was just a couple of steps forward but it was a big accomplishment for him.