Aidan's Army

e and ashen gray, and unresponsive. We thought he was dead when Jeff lifted Aidan out of the crib. He barely opened his eyes when Jeff set him on the changing table. Jeff handed Aidan to me and called 911. The squad took us to Hillcrest. His vitals were very week, and he was cool to the touch. After 2 - 3 hours we were transported by med-flight to Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital PICU unit where we were informed he was in acute liver failure. Jeff nearly passed out and I just lost it. Aidan was put into an induced coma so his tiny body didn’t have to work as hard. Aidan had many different doctors from many specialties (GI, Nephrology, Infectious Disease, Transplant and Cardiology to name a few) working to try to 1) figure out why this was happening and 2) to figure out what was to be done. By Tuesday night Aidan was listed on the Transplant list. There was hope as his vitals and labs started to trend towards the better, but it turned gravely serious into the very early hours of Wednesday. Wednesday, September 5th , 2007 - Aidan almost lost the fight as the toxins from his liver was not only shutting down his kidneys and lungs (he was on a ventilator) but it went into his brain where it caused major swelling and we lost him. Thanks to the amazing staff they were able to revive him. After that they knew time wasn’t on our side. Aidan needed a transplant but doctors weren’t sure if his body could handle the lengthy surgery. By Wednesday evening Aidan was showing signs of strength but a matching deceased donor liver hadn’t been found. It was up to one of us to donate a portion of our liver. I was unable to as I was pregnant and the PICU/Transplant staff really didn’t want Jeff doing it. They felt the situation was to grave; with us potentially losing Aidan and then if Jeff was lost during surgery it would be a horrible situation for me and the unborn baby. Somehow Jeff and I walked into the waiting room of 20 people and asked if anyone was willing to donate. Due to some restrictions, and some that couldn’t, 12 people followed us into a room where a transplant surgeon was waiting to discuss the process and risks. 12 people!!! That is insane. God bless every single one of them. After much, but a quick debate, it was determined that my brother, Jeff Shoemaker, who was adamant about keeping Jeff (Diederich) out of harm’s way would be the one to give the gift of life. At 10pm he was taken to the 6th floor to pack in 6 weeks’ worth of testing in less than 8 hours. Thursday, September 6th, 2007 – Aidan was wheeled down for surgery around 6am. The surgery lasted 13 hours. Over 30 people waited with us for the procedure to finish and the Fire Department sent up dinner for everyone! At 7pm my mom and I were able to go see my brother as he was the first one out of surgery. It took awhile to get his pain managed; Jeff was in a tremendous amount of pain but was only concerned with Aidan's condition - Unbelievable! After that he seemed to be doing as good as one can in that situation. When Aidan was wheeled back to the PICU Jeff and I noticed Aidan’s color looked a lot better already! Post-Transplant - Aidan had a tough road ahead; since coming in extremely sick he required about a month (3+ weeks longer than the average) for his organs (new liver, kidneys, brain, etc) to heal and recover. Also, he was having issues with his bile duct which required 17 stents to help enlarge it (yep, a surgery every time) and numerous viruses. After about 18 months, with the majority spent in the hospital, Aidan came home. Because of the long stay Aidan has some developmental issues with speech and his eating took a dive. But with a lot of therapy and an IEP at school Aidan has come very far considering! With the help of God, surgeons, nurses, family, friends, co-workers, strangers, prayer and the amazing fight and determination of Aidan he is now 7 1/2 years post-transplant and doing well so to speak. Currently, Aidan gets monthly lab work done and will most likely be on several medications for the rest of his life. He still has set-backs with illness and stints in the hospital and he will be returning to the feeding clinic with some eatting issues; not eatting much, not gaining weight, etc. which for a child with his chronic illness is not a good thing. Aidan will be starting 2nd grade in the fall and is looking forward to it (yes, he loves school despite some of his struggles)

We have established a fund that people can donate towards if they so choose. The fund is available at any local KeyBank Branch. The name of the fund is The "Diederich-Shoemaker Liver Fund". Portions of the proceeds will also be donated to a charity; The Ronald McDonald house (where we stayed while Aidan was hospitalized), The American Liver Foundation, and LifeBanc. Donation Details
KeyBank
Fund Name: Diederich-Shoemaker Liver Fund
2566 E. Twinsburg, Ohio, 44087

News articles on Aidan and hero Uncle Jeff:
http://archive.wkyc.com/news/article/82626/0/Baby-gets-first-emergency-living-donor-liver-transplant-at-Cleveland-Clinic

http://www.liverfoundation.org/patients/liverchampions/aidansstory/