Please donate to help Brennan

As many of our friends and family know, Brennan was born with posterior urethral valves. This inhibited his bladder function while in utero, causing severe urinary reflux. His kidney function was impaired, resulting in his right kidney failing and eventually disappearing. Brennan had surgery shortly after birth to ablate the valves to aid in his urinary process, hoping his left kidney could be saved. The surgery was a success, and eventually, his urinary reflux resolved for the time being. Since then, he has been closely monitored by his physicians at MUSC with routine ultrasounds and blood work. He’s been happy and healthy, and we are forever grateful. His doctors have always been honest with us, though, that he may need interventions if warranted.

Last week, after one of his bi-yearly visits, his doctor called with some unfortunate news. Brennan’s lab work indicated that the time for interventions was upon us, and his doctor recommended intermittent urinary catheterization. This means that he will need to have a urinary catheter placed every few hours throughout the day to void his bladder. This will hopefully prevent permanent damage to his left kidney and keep words like “failure,” “dialysis,” and “transplant” out of our future vocabulary. Wednesday, we met with his doctor and nurse at MUSC and learned how to catheterize Brennan. We spent hours speaking with them, a social worker, Brennan’s daycare, our insurance, and medical supply companies.

Brennan is fighting his caths, and it requires multiple people to accomplish. We have had many people reach out to us and ask how they can help, and the support has been humbling. Derreck and I have decided that the best course for us as a family is to take some time off from work to be with Brennan as we all learn to catheterize together. We hope this time will also allow us to get other resources together for him. As a family, we have decided to put our pride aside and ask for donations toward Brennan's medical expenses and bills. Any donations are much appreciated and will allow us a little more time to adjust to our new normal.

Please share Brennan's story and reach out to us with any questions you have.