‘It’s gotten worse’: Family seeking kidney donor for 14-year-old son
By Jamie Mayes
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SALEM, Indiana (WLKY) — On Christmas morning, while many children eagerly anticipate unwrapping the latest toys and gadgets. Seth Heninger is awaiting a different kind of gift — a kidney for his son Jack.
“I’m a nurse, so I’m around illness a lot, but it’s different when it’s your kids,” Heninger said.
In 2013, Heninger found out Jack had congenital nephrotic syndrome, a condition that affects kidney function. Jane Waters, Jack’s mother, was four months pregnant with their daughter Winnie at the time and learned that Winnie would have the disease, too.
“They both had strokes, all kinds of bad infections, blood infections. They both coded in the hospital early on. It was really rough. There was a big learning curve,” Waters said.
Both Jack and Winnie underwent kidney removal surgeries, started dialysis, and eventually received kidneys from deceased donors. While Winnie’s health improved, Jack has faced complications.
“It’s gotten worse, leading up until the beginning of December, where it got to a point where Jack was having severe issues, with uremia and lethargic, tired, wasn’t moving,” Heninger said.
Jack’s kidney failed, and he restarted dialysis. Now, the family is determined to find a living kidney donor.
“Living donation, it’s much more effective and has a longer, usually lifespan,” Waters said. “The dialysis he’s on is definitely very important, and it helps him very much. But the longer he’s on it, the harder it is on his body.”
The family believes that a donor could give Jack the gift of health.
“We would hope that he would have more of the same outcome that Winnie has had, and that maybe we could get to living a more normal type of life,” Heninger said.
For those interested in determining if they are a match for Jack, swab testing kits are available through the hospital.
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