Vanessa's Kidney Transplant Journey

Vanessa turned 5 years old on Sunday. She had a special day celebrating with family & school friends. Thank you for all the birthday wishes sent her way. 💕

Vanessa has been working hard during her feeding therapy sessions at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She's been going 5 days a week for the past 5 weeks. The goal of the program is to wean her off her feeding tube. At the start of the program Vanessa could only drink about 100ml of water on her own a day. Now she can drink 1000ml of water (2 water bottles), which is very important for her kidney health. She also continues to make great progress on eating solid foods. Vanessa no longer requires wearing her backpack during the day, a huge milestone for her!!

Recently, Vanessa played flag football and had a blast!

Update on Vanessa:

We were very happy to celebrate Vanessa's 1 year kidney anniversary and all results came back good on her new kidney, which was fantastic news. However, her other kidney has been causing some issues and her doctors recommended to have it removed. She underwent another surgery last week. Hospital stays are never easy for her, but she is one strong little girl! She will have more frequent appointments and blood draws until she gets to a stable place with her labs. She is doing very well today and ready to get back to school. Thank you so much for your prayers, visits, and messages we have received ❤.

1 year ago today, Vanessa received the most special gift from her dad. Her resilience and happy spirit through this journey continue to amaze us. Happy 1 year kidney transplant anniversary! 💚💚💚

Vanessa is so happy to be back at school for Meet the Teacher night. She will be starting her 2nd year of preschool next week. 🥰

Kidney donation awareness 💙💚

The most commonly donated organ is ... 🥁 The kidney!

Kidney donation is used to treat kidney failure, also known as ESRD. 🩺

The need for a kidney makes up 82% of the national transplant waiting list.

⏳Patients that wait for a kidney from a deceased donor often wait for years.

⬇️ Like & share to spread awareness for kidney donation 💙💚

A fun night watching Vanessa perform at her 1st dance recital. She did a hip hop dance and loved being up on the big stage. ⭐

We are sincerely grateful for all of you that supported the fundraising event this past weekend in Chicago. It was a pleasure meeting many of you for the first time and catching up with family and friends we have not seen in a long time. We wish there was more time to visit with each of you. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts, Stephen & Jen

Last year during this time Vanessa was having surgery and starting hemodialysis and not able to finish her preschool year. Here she is having FUN at her end of year luau party! What a great preschool year it has been. Thankful for her wonderful group of teachers. Lucky to have them again next year!

Grateful for the exceptional care we receive from Phoenix Children's Hospital nurses. Thank you for ALL you do! Phoenix Children's

Vanessa had her monthly kidney check-up, and we received more good news. The infusion treatments she has been receiving at the hospital since December to treat the antibodies worked! She will no longer need to continue these treatments. Her doctor will monitor through routine blood work. She was also put on a high dose steroid that will continue to be weaned as well. Stephen also had his 6-month kidney follow-up and results were good!

Thank you very much for your continued prayers and support for Vanessa and our family

Vanessa is back home. Her biopsy and blood test results were good. Still waiting for other tests to come back, which will take a couple weeks. Thankful for the great news so far. Vanessa was skipping leaving the hospital. Thank you for your kind words and support. ❤

Vanessa getting ready for her 6 month kidney biopsy. She is in good spirits, getting an IV is always stressful, but went OK today. She will be admitted overnight to wait for results. Praying for good results🙏

1st Daddy Daughter Dance

Happy 6-month kidneyversary!

Vanessa has been having lots of fun lately and had her first basketball class! She had a blast! She loves riding her bike, getting outside hiking with her brother and cousins, and going to preschool. Unfortunately, there was unexpected news regarding her kidney that had her back at the hospital for multiple infusions. Please read the latest blog post from mom to read more. https://cota.org/campaigns/COTAforVanessa/blog/Happy-6month-kidneyversary

Vanessa's 4th Birthday was one for the books! All together, we were able to raise $2,569 for COTA in honor of Vanessa! Her entire COTA volunteer team want to say THANK YOU to each person who gave a donation and well wishes. Cheers to Vanessa!

Cheers to the Birthday girl! 🎂 Vanessa turns 4 today! Help wish her a Happy Birthday with a donation of $11.26 at Cotaforvanessa.com. Thank you so much for all the love and support ♡♡♡

Happy Thanksgiving! Take a moment to check out the latest blog post from Jenn and Stephen ♡♡♡

Children's Organ Transplant Association > COTA for Vanessa > Blog > Gratitude We are deeply grateful for Vanessa's healthcare team of heros that have helped get Vanessa where she is today. We have had the priviledge of meeting and getting to work with some incredible people. A couple nurses in particular who have known Vanessa since she was an infant and have treated her as i...

We are very excited to celebrate our sweet Vanessa Rae on 11-26! It's hard to believe she will be turning 4! To help celebrate we want to encourage and challenge everyone to donate $11.26 to COTA in Vanessa's honor to wish her a Happy Birthday! Help us reach our goal of $1,126. Click the link below!
https://cota.org/campaigns/COTAforVanessa/events/Happy-4th-Birthday-Vanessa-Rae-v01

On behalf of Vanessa's COTA team of volunteers, we want to give a great big THANK YOU to all our family and friends for joining us at the Chipotle fundraiser event and helping make it a great success! Everyone's support means so much and is so appreciated. Vanessa received her life-saving kidney transplant on August 1st! However, the journey is not over; it is a lifetime journey involving follow-up clinic visits, anti-rejection medication and more. Funds raised from the event will go directly to COTA in honor of Vanessa to help with these lifelong expenses.

Only 5 days away!!! Come out to support a great cause this Saturday, anytime between 4 and 8pm at Chipotle Desert Ridge for Vanessa. You can even order online for pickup with code 47KC6B4 or be sure to mention this fundraiser at checkout. We hope to see you there!

Join us for a fundraiser at Chipotle 10.22.2022, 4:00pm - 8:00pm

My 1st day of preschool! To see the latest blog post for Vanessa's Kidney Transplant Journey visit www.COTAforVanessa.com.

Hi everyone! Thank you all for your support and donations to COTA in honor of Vanessa. She is continuing to thrive with her new kidney and has even started preschool this week! Photos to follow soon!

Also exciting news to share...we are having our first COTA fundraising event on OCTOBER 22nd at Chipotle Desert Ridge! A percentage of sales will be donated to COTA in honor of Vanessa to assist with a lifetime of -related expenses. Stop by or order online anytime between 4 and 8pm and don't forget to mention COTA for Vanessa Pupillo at checkout. Can't make it? You can also donate directly here: www.cotaforvanessa.org. Thank you again for all your support and we hope to see you there!!!

Location: Desert Ridge 21001 N Tatum Blvd Phoenix, AZ 85050.

Join us for a fundraiser at Chipotle 10.22.2022, 4:00pm - 8:00pm