Tennesha’s Story

Our daughter Tannesha is now 12 years old. By the grace of God she is doing well on dialysis at this time. My husband and I adopted Tannesha at age 5. She was on peritoneal dialysis at the time. We were told her diagnosis was membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Her kidneys began to fail at 5 months of age. She began dialysis at age 3. She had peritonitis two times in two years, and was placed on hemo-dialysis.

We listed her for a transplant, and I was tested to see if I could donate. I was thrilled to be a match. On January 9th 1996 I donated a kidney to Tannesha with great hopes of a life without being hooked up to a machine. The fifth day post- transplant Tannesha presented with flu like symptoms. Then everything fell apart. Her platelets crashed, blood pressure elevated to dangerous levels, red blood count quickly dropped. I had no idea what was going on. Finally after several tests a diagnosis. HUS, what is that? Tannesha began to lose the kidney I gave her in five days. This had nothing to do with rejection.

Plasma Pheresis, what's that? What planned to be a five day stay in the hospital, with plenty of rest for me, turned into 2 months of confusion, fear, acceptance, and determination? By 1998 Tannesha was in complete renal failure. We had done eight months of plasma pheresis after her transplant with no success. Ohio would not list her again, but the University of Minnesota did. We were told it would be a long wait. Six months later we were called for a kidney, a perfect match. After a 12 hour surgery, Tannesha had a new kidney.

Would the disease come back? Yes it did, two months later; she was so sick .Plasma pheresis again, hooked up to a machine everyday. By July of 2000 Tannesha was back on dialysis. Her prognosis is poor. She is not transplantable because of her atypical HUS returning again. I did not want to here that, nor accept it. Tannesh4ft. tall and weighs 50 pounds. She has a leg graft for Hemo dialysis, and a g-tube for nutrition. Her legs hurt most of the time from renal rickets. But guess what!!! God has given her the ability to enjoy life, despite three times a week on a machine She is taking horse back riding lessons, ballet, and loves to swim. We choose to home school. That works best for us.

I met Tannesha while working in the hospital. I knew she was a gift from God, and that John and I would adopt her. I try to enjoy her everyday, for I do not know what tomorrow will bring. She has a strong faith and is not afraid to die. I pray for research of this disease. It may not affect many children, but to me one is enough.

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