Nick Amerson's Kidney 3.0

Hello! My name is Becky and a long time friend of the Amersons. As many of you know Nick has cronic kidney failure and for the past 2 years has been on the transplant list, when Nick's kidney got down to 12% functioning, he then began to have done dialysis two days a week for the past six months. Dialysis does what your kidney is supposed to do, it filters the toxens out of your blood. Your blood is literally removed from you body by a machine, filtered, cleaned and then put back in. Although dialysis was necessary and very much needed, it left Nick feeling drained each time.

Well, yesterday he got the "kidney call" - which literally is like the beeper you get waiting at The Olive Garden. It beeps, you go! He had two hours to get from Yamhill to downtown Portland during rush hour traffic. At about 9:30 last night Nick was taken back for the long awaited surgery. When the surgeons finally emerged around 1:30am, Nick's wife and parents learned that Nick was in recovery, after a few complications during the surgery. Nick was very anemic and had to have a blood transfusion during the operation. The surgeons also had a difficult time getting through all of the scar tissue that had formed from his previous two transplants. But all was well, they kept him in recovery for a little extra time and than up to ICU. Today Nick was sitting up in a recliner and although he was pretty sleepy, he was doing well!

A little history of Nick's cronic kidney failure. This is a birth defect and discovered when he was six. Nick had multiple surgeries to try and fix the issue between the ages of 6 and 16. His first transplant was at the young age of 16, this kidney was donated by his dad. This kidney lasted about 7 years, which at the time of technology and medicine, was considered the lifespan of a donated kidney. Nick's second transplant was at the age of 23, this kidney was donated by a friend. With this transplant he became pretty sick, but was able to recover and the kidney lasted about 20.5 years!

Nick is going to have about a 3-month recovery period, in which time we hope and pray that his body does not reject this new kidney. These funds are to help his family with any medical and living expenses that come up during this time. Thoughts and prayers are much needed during this time, along with donations. Please donate if you can and most of all, please share and help this amazing family in their time of need.