THREE DAYS AWAY!

July 12th, 2011

We are three days away from the end of this fundraiser and we couldn't be more thankful for all of the friends, family and strangers that helped us on this journey.  One very special thank you would have to go to the team of Give Forward.  Their constant support and positive energy genuinely is amazing.  They are quite the team!

From the Dodge and Oliver family, we all thank and love all of you very much.

Kevin and Matt couldn't be any better.  They both have returned to work.  Kevin actually recovered so quickly, he went back to work early.  There are still some future doctor visits they will both need to attend in upcoming weeks and months, but both are very happy and healthy.

With the end of this fundraiser just 3 days away, it's time to gear up for one last push.  We have just a little over $1,200 to achieve.  When I look back and remember that we raised $1,000 in 24 hours, I can feel little positive that we can make this goal.  It's $400 a day! 

So let's do some basic math.  About 100 people have donated various amounts of money.  Let me pull out this fancy calculator....  If the donors were to all donate once again the amount of  $13, it would put us right over our goal.  So, I like to call this last push, LUCKY $13!

100 PEOPLE  *  $13 DONATION  *  A GOOD CAUSE!  LET'S DO IT!  I'm starting right now!

A MESSAGE FROM KEVIN!

June 7th, 2011

Dear friends and family:

I'm sorry for my lack of update.  Lauren and I returned late last Wednesday night and I couldn't be happier to return to Lafayette. Since then, I've had a tad bit of difficulty adjusting and I’ve been very fatigued.  I keep hoping it’s the 100 degree heat around here, but part of me thinks that's wishful thinking.  

From here on in, I will be having my blood tested twice a week here in Lafayette at the Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, and every Wednesday I will be returning to New Orleans for a consult with my kidney transplant coordinator.  As time goes by, the trips will lessen until ultimately I will only have to return once every 6 months.  It's a far ways off, but something to look forward to none the less.

I wanted to take this time to thank everyone for they're thoughts, messages, prayers and donations you've given or sent my way. I can't begin to tell you how humbled it makes me.  I could never in a million years thank everyone to their full deserving amount, but for now I will say thank you. All of you have made this a lot more bearable than you could ever imagine. I love and care for you all.

Thank you,

Kevin Dodge

26 STAPLES - 16 DAYS WITH NEW KIDNEY

May 25th, 2011

GUESS WHO IS GETTING HIS STAPLES TAKEN OUT TODAY???

KEVIN!!!!

This afternoon, Kevin is scheduled to have all 26 staples taken out.  What kind of device do you use to take staples out of someone's side?  I know what I use in the office do detach documents, but I think this might be something different.

Other than the lab work that Kevin has to do, this will be the last thing that he has to go to the hospital for now.  It won't be long before he will be back home in Lafayette!  He's 16 days in with his new kidney!

To celebrate the 26 staples coming out, let's donate a $1 for every staple.  It's a small contribution that you can make, and it's better than getting staples removed from you body.  Am I right?  :)

IS THAT A KIDNEY IN YOUR BODY, OR ARE YOU JUST HAP

May 23rd, 2011

First, I want to apologize for not getting an update to you quickly.  The past week has been a little crazy for the entire Dodge family.  Let’s go back to Thursday, May 12th! 

Thursday was quite exciting because it was the day that Kevin was released from the hospital and getting ready to move into his new apartment.  The apartment is temporary, but still we tried to make it as comfortable as possible.  When you’re recovering from major surgery, it’s good to have a home even if you’re away from your home.  Needless to say, that day was exhausting for all of us.  Kevin was happy to be out of the hospital, but still had a little pain.  Also, there were frequent trips to the bathroom throughout the night, so sleep was an on-and-off thing for him.

On Friday, Kevin and Matt both had lab work that needed to be done.  Matt and Kevin both checked out fine for their tests.  With that, Matt was ready to head back home to Bastop, LA.  Funny thing about this water rising in areas, he had to take the long way home due to flooding over the main route.  It took him a while, but he arrived home safely that evening.  That evening, Kevin was in high spirits because he finally got to shower and shave.  Unfortunately, he noticed that his fluid drain seemed to be stopped up, so he decided to take a trip to the emergency room.  They pretty much held him for 12 hours more than they should have.  Even Kevin knew what the problem was, yet they wanted to take all these precautions.  Come morning, they pretty much told him, “Yep, your fluid drain is stopped up.”  They replaced it and sent him home.  Silly ER people.

Last week after doing some tests, they found that Kevin’s creatinine level had jumped from 1.4 to 2.6.  Keep in mind that when he was suffering with renal failure, his creatinine level was around 16.  Right after the surgery, it decreased to 4.0 and then just kept dropping.  When the doctors saw an increase again, they were concerned that the body might be rejecting the kidney.  Kevin was admitted again into the hospital.  They scheduled a sonogram that came back negative.  They decreased some medication that they thought may have been causing it.  After pumping lots of fluid into his body, his creatinine level dropped to 1.7.  It’s still higher than before, but it’s a start.  They ruled out that the kidney wasn’t getting enough fluids to process and that it was dehydrating Kevin.  We have to remember that when Matt had his kidney, he was giving it a 12-pack of Mountain Dew per day.  This little guy was just thirsty.

It’s been a couple days that Kevin has been in the hospital, but he informed that they will be releasing him today!  I’m sure Matt has been coaching Kevin to just “Do the Dew” a little more.  Keep them both in your prayers for the rest of their recovery!  I know that it has slowed down, but we are a little over $1400 short of our goal.  Tell your friends and family about Kevin & Matt's story and help us achieve it!

DAY 2

May 10th, 2011

When the next morning rolled around, we came to visit Kevin in his room around 9:30am and relieve Dad. To our surprise, Matt was there with his wife, Elisha, and friend, B.J., just hanging out. The staff had been encouraging Matt to walk around and to also do breathing exercised to prevent pneumonia. After a while, Matt made it back to his room as a mass amount of doctors came in and asked Kevin questions from his allergies, his itching, the blood pressure, etc. I had never seen so many doctors crammed into one area, but they were from every area – doctors, pharmacists, etc. Kevin tried to relax and sleep for the most part. They began to put him on different medications to help in different areas. His blood pressure throughout the day has been up and down like a rollercoaster. He did get a little more sleep than the night before. Sometimes he would slip into a snore and wake himself up, but ease right back into sleeping again. Around late morning, his stomach started to hurt a lot and then we realized he was passing blood clots. The nurses assured us this was all routine and normal. It’s a scary thing, and it doesn’t feel pleasant. At the end of this evening, he had a small pain that caught him off-guard, but the clots are getting fewer and smaller. Kevin has also moved from his bed to sitting in a chair. He started that this morning and also before he went to bed. One of the nurses informed him that he should have been walking today, but due to his being released from recovery later I the evening and the medication not helping him sleep, that has been postponed till tomorrow. We are excited for this adventure! On an even better note, Matt was released from the hospital and is now staying at the hotel. He will be staying here for the week and has a follow up appointment for blood work on Friday morning.

TRANSPLANT DAY - MARCH 9TH

May 10th, 2011

We started this morning quite early. Kevin started it even earlier because he couldn’t sleep. He said that he woke up at 2am and just lay there. When 4am rolled around, he got up and took his medication. By 4:30am, everyone seemed to be awake, buzzing around and getting ready. Well, everyone except for our donor, Matthew Oliver. The hospital specifically told him that he needed to check in at 5am. When we called to ask him if he was ready, it was 4:48am. He was still asleep. Lucky for Matt, we are staying in the hotel connected to the hospital. He got up, showered quickly, and in his Iron Man pajama pants that Kevin had given him the night before, rushed to the waiting room and made it on time. Amazing. He was like The Flash, but The Flash wearing Iron Man pants. There was no way we were going to part, so all of us went down to the check in at the same time. Not too long after that Kevin was called in for the same. The families waited until we were told we could see them before taken away for surgery. We sat with Kevin shortly. His doctor came in and reran over a brief description of what was about to happen. Down the hall, Matt was already prepped and being taken to the operating room. Kevin had to wait a little while longer. We sat with him for a while before the nurses came in and told him it was game time. We walked into the waiting room and discussed getting some breakfast while we wait for news. Matt’s wife, Elisha, informed us that Matt was officially in surgery. The family enjoyed some breakfast and made our way back to the waiting room. As soon as we entered, we got the news that Matt was out of surgery and heading to recovery. At that very same moment, we were also getting news that Kevin was receiving Matt’s kidney. Though they did not share the recovery room at the same time, they both woke up the same way: Both in pain, nauseous and asking about each other’s wellness. Every 2 hours, two members of the family could visit the patient for 10 minutes in recovery. When Elisha came back from visiting Matt, she noted that he was very nauseous and “maybe hallucinating.” He was still coming off of the anesthetics. Soon after feeling much better, Matt was moved to his own hospital room for further recovery. About that time, Kevin’s doctor was coming out and giving us an update. He said that the surgery went perfect and that Kevin’s new kidney looked beautiful. He also informed that the kidney immediately went to work and started doing its job. In other words, everything was working fluently. He had been put in recovery around 1:30PM and we had hoped to see him for 2PM’s visit. Unfortunately, the nurse came out and informed us that he was still very groggy and nauseous from the anesthetics as well. We would have to wait till 4PM’s visitation time. We did our usually hospital waiting activities: pacing, moving from chair to chair, eating lunch, laughing about a time when so-and-so did that thing, etc. Finally, our visitation time rolled around and we had a plan that Mom & Dad would go in and visit Kevin first for 5 minutes, come out and then Lauren, Kevin’s fiancé, and I would head in for the remaining 5 minutes. After the 7 minute mark rolled around, I started to think this wasn’t happening. Dad later explained that the nurse would not let them switch out. Only 2 people per visit were their rules. Now, Lauren and I would have to wait till 8pm to see Kevin. When our time finally rolled around, we made it to the recovery room. For someone who was just cut and given a kidney, he looked good. He was still in a lot of pain and more than anything wanted to be near his family. He kept seeing others check out of recovery, but they were keeping him there until his blood pressure came down. When the next visiting time rolled around at 8pm, Dad and Lauren went to see him again. He said that he was still in a lot of pain and his blood pressure had not come down. They started talking with the nurse about getting something to help him sleep and consider putting him in a room anyway being that he had been in recovery for almost 7 hours. The nurse said he would see about getting him released to his own room. We had all come back to our hotel rooms. It was about an hour later when they called Dad and told him that Kevin will be moving to a room, but it wouldn’t be till later on in the evening/early morning. They actually moved him into his room earlier than we thought and Kevin was out of recovery and in his own room around 11:30PM. Dad stayed with Kevin all night long and through the morning. Kevin was still hurting and now itching so much that he couldn’t sleep. At first everyone thought that he may be allergic to one of the pain killers, but he stopped taking it around 2AM. Kevin would cat nap, but never fully sleep. Him and Dad played movie games throughout the morning.

WE ARE AT OCHSNERS!

May 8th, 2011

Happy Mother's Day to everyone...especially the Mom's! We are all currently in New Orleans. Everyone's travels were nice. We have all gone swimming, as we have broadcasted several times before! In about 10 hours, Matt will be meeting with the staff to get prepped for surgery! It's going to be a bright and sunny 5am Monday morning. I think we are planning on wearing pajamas and just walking across to the hospital. Since tomorrow is the BIG DAY, we ask that you keep Kevin, Matt and all of the families in your prayers, thoughts and support. Updates to follow after the proceedure is over. Thanks to all of you that have donated. We have made it this far, and with your help we can only go farther!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN!!!

May 7th, 2011

Yes, on May 7th, 1983 at 12:10AM, Kevin came in this world. 

So, what is Kevin doing this morning for his birthday?  He is going to his last session of dialysis.  Yes, the process is horrible.  By the time Kevin gets out of dialysis, he feels weak and sometimes sick.  I've seen him unable to drive sometimes because it's taken so much out of him.  But he's has had to do dialysis 3 days a week for about 4-5 hours since June 2008.  Looks like he won't be making his 3rd year anniversary on dialysis since he's getting a brand new kidney for his birthday!!! 

Can you believe that this kid is getting a kidney for his birthday?  That's a pretty good gift.  I'm a little annoyed that I'm not giving Kevin a kidney.  That's like the ultimate birthday gift.  When you think about it, Matt won't ever have to buy Kevin a gift anymore, because Kevin will be wearing it for the rest of his life.  I have to admit that my birthday gift to Kevin is pretty sweet and when he sees it tomorrow, I'm hoping for squeals of joy. 

AND SPEAKING OF BIRTHDAY GIFT....

Let's celebrate Kevin's birthday by throwing some donations his way.  But to make it birthday party oriented, let's switch it up a little bit!  Donate in figures like the following:

$5 - The month Kevin was born in
$7 - The day Kevin was born
$12.10 - The time Kevin was born
$28 - The age Kevin is this year
$57 - That's what you get when you put May 7th together
$83 - The year Kevin was born
$1983 - The full year Kevin was born...quite the feat for some of us.
And if you are inclined to be so bold, try this figure
$5,783 - Haha.  I challenge you.  :)

Make this birthday just a little more special!  Get your donations in now, and don't forget to add some birthday wishes.  When Kevin gets out of dialysis, he's going to have lots of fun reading his donation comments...which I have renamed "Birthday Cards."

WORLD GIVE DAY WAS A SUCCESS!

May 5th, 2011

And it's all thanks to you!

Just to give you a little inside on how we did for World Give Day, you helped us raise over $1,000.  We are so very thankful to have you in our lives and know that we have you behind us through this journey. 

Also, we have been going strong through Give Forward and it's been one week since we first started this page.  Can you believe that we raised over $6K in one week?  Once again, thank you to all those super heroes out there that gave donations and time.  It means a lot.

Kevin's donor, Matthew Oliver, has been getting some special support from his students.  He recently told me that his students put together their change at lunch and donated $20.  That may seem weird at first, but Matt had a good idea on how to use $20 worth of change.  "We're all set for a week of vending machines and parking meters."

Now that's one smart kid.

We are now 4 days away from our transplant date.  You would think nervousness would be creeping up, but not for Matthew Oliver.  He more concerned about other things.  "Boy, we are going to have a blasty-blast at the hotel pool on Sunday night.  I'm going swimming before I get all stitched and glued." 

Yes, that's our Matt.  He's found a very unique way to celebrate the kidney transplant.  I was informed today that his procedure will start at 5am on Monday morning and then Kevin will follow right behind him.  I guess we aren't doing any late night swimming, Matt.  :)

Did we just meet our goal???

May 3rd, 2011

YOU KNOW WE DID! 

First of all, a very special thank you for all the people that donated and got us to our goal of $5,000 before our first week was up? 

Who are you people?  Super heroes?

With that, I ask the question: Why stop there?  We did so good meeting out goal in only 5 days - I repeat, 5 DAYS! - that we should keep going!  I have bumped up our fund raising goal to double that.  Let's do $10K. 

With World Give Day tomorrow, don't forget to give to your favorite charity.  And remember, if you can't donate money, always donate time.  Time is always just as precious.  So, take some time to pass along this website or your favorite charity site, or give a hug to someone.  There's always someone out there that needs something, and you could be that person to help them!

God bless all of you!

World Give Day - May 4th, 2011

May 3rd, 2011

Before I give an update about Kevin & Matthew, I just wanted to let everyone know that tomorrow is World Give Day!  http://worldgiveday.com/

We could use some extra help, so we are adding a twist for tomorrow's great day!  To help us exceed our goal, we starting the 4th x $4 Fundraising Campaign.  When you think about it, $4 is nothing.  It's not even worth a gallon of gas in the city of Chicago.  And $14 can barely pay for your date's dinner at a nice restaurant, while $24 may buy you a small sack of groceries.  These boys have to travel back and forth to NOLA for testing, stay there for recovery and eventually pay out of pocket for medication.  We are asking for $4 or amounts that have 4 in them.  $4, $14, $24, $34, $44, $444 (whoa!) etc.

If you cannot donate money, you can always donate time by forwarding this email to your friends and family, or directing them on Facebook to go to our website.

Now onto the update!

Kevin and Matthew ventured to New Orleans yesterday and did their pre-op procedure with Ochsners.  As a donor, Matthew will most likely be released the day after surgery, but they want him to stay in the city since he will be doing a follow up that Friday. 

As for Kevin, he has to stay in New Orleans on their campus for 3-4 weeks.  Reason being, they will need to do several follow up appointments with him and make sure his body doesn't reject the kidney.

Interesting fact: How many kidneys will Kevin have after surgery.  You would probably guess one, but it will actually be three.  I know -- mind blowing, huh?  Instead of removing the infected kidneys, they will leave them in and add Matthew's kidney to the party!  Unfortunately, Matthew's kidney will be all alone and trying to swell up to the size of a football in sheer anger, but I'm sure the little guy will learn to live along in peace and harmony with the other organs.