A NEW CHALLENGE

We received the phone call tonight that we have been expecting for 8 years; Mackenzie's kidney function has fallen to a critical range and the transplant procedure begins. Her kidneys are only functioning at 11%, much worse than we thought from her lab work. She is upset, angry, scared, mostly scared. Mack has very rare blood type, B-, only 3% of the population has this. But the donor doesn't necessarily need to have B-, just negative. That makes the odds of a match within the family better. I cannot donate because of the Lupus, Stephen King and her other grandmother are borderline too old and her other papaw has only one kidney, he donated the other to his younger brother years ago. Odd to have two people in the family needing transplants, but her uncle's disease was not the same as the Weggners which struck Mack. We all feel that Courtney will be the match and she is being tested today in OZ. The doctor thinks if we find a family donor, the surgery can take place in 2-3 months, so Mack could be recovering by the Holidays. A much better Holiday than last with Madeleine having her heart surgery in early December and both girls in Rileys for the whole Christmas break. We are blessed they had such good results then, but Christmas in a hospital stinks!
We were all at Stephen and Shawn's tonight for Caleb's 8th birthday party. The phone call put a damper on the festivities for a brief time, but we all knew we had to celebrate this sweet boy. He has been so excited about his big day that I took him to WalMart, yes me in that place, two weeks ago to pick out his gifts. He chose them, I purchased them, we took them home to a closet for safe keeping and he got them out tonight to open! He was so afraid that I wouldnt go back to WalMart, we had to get them then! He knows G-ma too well.
Our niece went into labor tonight with her 5th child, yes Elaine 5th, she has two biological children and two adopted from the Congo. This little one was a surprise. Their kids are 11, 8, 3 and 2. There is so much love in that home you can feel it from the street! We know little Owen will fit right in. They were hoping for a girl, but Liv will be the lone sister among those 4 boys. She thinks that's OK, it is good to be the only princess in the land.
Only 9 days left before we leave on vacation. After tonight, we are all even more excited about going. We relax and pretend the world isn't out there waiting while we laugh  and play and eat and swim and enjoy the company of our family. I am so relieved to know that we have those 2 weeks to prepare ourselves for the next few months, they will be a challenge to all of us. Most of all our Mackenzie Rose. Please, pray for strength and grace to bless us. Talk to me. Love