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