Kidney 4 Ben

A happy and healthy summer for Ben. A couple more weekends before heading back to school for 8th grade.

If you are thinking of donating a kidney please reach out. We know other kids on dialysis that are waiting on a living donor so they can have a healthy summer.

https://www.uofmhealth.org/conditions-treatments/transplantation/becoming-donor

https://rmhcannarbor.org/

We are participating in a charity event for Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor.

This is 2 weeks out on June 15th. Tickets available to attend.

If you'd like to donate our team is the Lighting Bolts, Thank you!

https://givebutter.com/RMHCAAHomeRun/lighting-bolts/amybolton3?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1drWBgDg3eq4I_QNdKbXHWTettAOh1UipCaq1AHx_dEEXkmLiojA4uwpY_aem_ARWPAimN9U80wF42PCyb85JGIxt6yl4Vst-9hsT5btrlxePFDz0r6KAQBgd8fiIwoVyJWRwjoFAviIRsrxt7324w

Home Run for the House 2024 Saturday, June 15, 2024 at Ray Fisher Stadium

We are participating in a charity event. If you'd like to join our fundraising team (Lighting Bolts), you'll be supporting the Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor. Thank you!

Home Run for the House 2024 A family-friendly event to support the mission of RMHCAA

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

Our family was invited to the 11th annual Red Shoe Affair that supports Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor. It was a great event at Jack Roth Club inside Michigan Stadium. Ben and Leah were on stage helping the MC Ronald with the fundraising.

Thanks to RMHC Ann Arbor for including our family in such a great event. It was an amazing experience our family will not forget.

If you are looking to give your time to a great cause RMH offers an opportunity for volunteers to make meals for the families that are staying at both RMH and Mott House (inside the hospital).

https://rmhcannarbor.org/how-to-help/give-the-gift-of-meals/

Thanks to Rainbow Connection we were able to take a trip down to Orlando. We stayed at a great place Give Kids The World. GKTW is a place for families to stay and just enjoy a vacation. It really is a full service resort with meals, snacks and activities provided to the guest (Unlimited Ice Cream!!!!!).

We visited 5 theme parks over 5 days. We went to 3 Disney Parks and both Universals.

It has been a bit of a rocky start to 2023 for Ben with some stomach issues, but he was able to really enjoy this trip. We want to thank Rainbow Connection for giving us this trip of a lifetime.

We had a busy weekend in Ann Arbor (no doctor visits, which was a nice change)

Our family volunteered to cook dinner at Ronald McDonald House. We have stayed at RMH during some of Ben's hospital visits and it was good to support the families staying there.

It was a great experience, if you are looking to volunteer --
rmhcannarbor.org/how-to-help/give-the-gift-of-meals/

Ben is doing great post kidney transplant.

He had a slight hiccup with getting covid over Labor Day weekend. Doctors kept him in hospital for 2 nights as precaution. He made a fast and full recovery. His health is good and he is in the full middle school swing of things!

Last weekend Ben went to the Michigan football game. Weather was beautiful and we really had a great game day experience.

Thanks for all the support and if you are interested in being a donor here is a link to the Michigan Medicine --
uofmhealth.org/conditions-treatments/transplant/kidney-pancreas-transplant

Today is the one year anniversary of Ben arriving at the hospital. He was a seemingly healthy 10 year old boy who was tired and couldn't eat. It wouldn't be long before we were hearing about zero kidney function and an incurable disease. We could go on about the details of August 2021 but this is more about saying thank you to everyone for all the support and prayers.

Thank you to all the doctors, nurses and support staff at the hospital. Mott is amazing and we are forever grateful to all of the people that supported Ben.

Thank you to all the people that shared Ben's story as we were searching for a donor. It was overwhelming how many people were willing to not only share his story, but also signed up to try to donate themselves.

Thank you to his donor, who really is one of the kindest people we have ever met. Ben's kidney donation is one example of many ways that she makes a positive impact on our world. There are no words that are enough to express our gratitude for what you have given Ben.

We added some pictures from Ben's stay at the hospital last August. It feels like a decade ago, but can also recall everything that happened like it was last week.

If organ donation is something you may be interested in, please see the link below for more information on how you can change a person's life.
https://www.uofmhealth.org/conditions-treatments/transplant/about-donated-organs

Love,
Amy, Jake, Leah and Ben

Ben is doing very good post transplant. He has follow up appointment weekly and everyone is happy with his numbers and recovery.

This week the doctors gave him the thumbs up and going swimming in well maintained pools. He was at the pool later in the day.

Thanks for all the cards and well wishes. It all has had a positive impact on Ben and our family

After a week in the hospital recovering from a kidney transplant, Ben has made it home. He is excited to be back in his gaming chair and to sleep in his own bed.

All the nurses at C.S. Mott Children's HospitalC.S. Mott Children's Hospital Mott Children's Hospital were wonderful. They took great care of him and encouraged him to push himself toward heeling.

He is doing really well.

Thanks for all the love and support

Recovery is going well. Ben is up and walking around. Thanks for all the well wishes

We are so happy to share that Ben had a successfully kidney transplant. Thank you all for your support and prayers.

Starting to wrap up elementary school as Ben is on schedule for transplant next week.

All of the teachers and staff have been simply great to help make this year as normal as possible.

Thank You Kenbrook Family for all the love and support

Hello! We wanted to give everyone an update on Ben's situation --

The Michigan Medicine Transplant Team has an approved living kidney donor for Ben.

We are beyond grateful to get a kidney donation. The excitement and joy of this news really is something that is hard to express.

The current plan is that the transplant procedure will happen at the end of May.

After Transplant, he will spend 2 weeks at Mott Children's for observation. Once home, he will have a lowered immune system and will not be able to do too much as his body recovers and accepts the kidney.

We can not say thank you enough to everyone. Your support has been incredible. We are thankful for all of you