https://www.facebook.com/104267191713424/

A Love Story: Kidney for Finn, Roxbury Crossing, MA (2025)

12/18/2021

************* FINN KIDNEY UPDATE************

Our People,

We are all so appreciative of all your prayers, love, positive vibes, energy, and thoughts over these past years. It’s certainly been a rollercoaster of a journey that seems to be slowing quite a bit, with great welcome! Some weeks ago, we received a call that a Good Samaritan Donor was approved for a kidney donation to Finn. We met her and her family for the first time a couple of weeks ago, followed by a second meeting with cookies and ice cream a couple of nights before transplant. Words can’t begin to express the gratitude we feel for their generosity and selflessness. It’s also pretty spectacular and surreal that her beautiful spirit will be living within Finn as well.

Thursday, she and Finn were rockstars! Transplant took a little over 6 hours and both she and Finn are recovering well. Finn has done so great with getting through to the other side of the Kidney Transplant. He was in ICU for a short time as they managed his care more closely before he was transferred to the main recovery floor. Overall, Finn is more alert, stable, and moving in the right direction. The last few hours of the evening, were spent doing puppet shows with his sister, Salome, reading books, and opening a window in the Advent Calendar, while Finn was our audience. It was so nice to have Salome here visiting and for her to have this time with Finn.

Their hope is that we get to be home between Christmas and New Year, but it all depends on Finn’s recovery. Then a few months at home as Finn’s body enter into the beginnings of learning how to navigate the world on anti coagulation, anti-viral, immunosuppressant, and anti-rejection medication. We are looking forward to a full recovery, pool time, and spending time with family and friends and a lot less time in the hospital! Right now, things are moving slow...and moving in the right direction. We have seen God’s face through out this journey and look forward to the other vessels we get to cross paths with as we transition to a new chapter.

Thank you all again. Sending love, blessings, and light!!! What a gift during this season of advent…

*I will not post photos of Finn’s donor as we want to honor her and her family’s right to privacy.* Here’s this little kiddo as of yesterday…

02/26/2021

********KIDNEY FOR FINN UPDATE*******
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has messaged us, reposted Finn's story, talked to friends, prayed, meditated, and continue to hold us in your heart.

A depth of gratitude to those who considered donating, and/or tested their blood for Finn. Thank you for your intentions with the Kidney donation. It's an altruistic act full of compassion and heart and I am blessed so much of this small bubble of the world is getting to see it.

As of today, the message has gone out to thousands of hearts. We have 4 potential donors who are in the process of being cross-matched with Finn. They move forward with one person at a time and our prayer is Finn will find his best match soon. The process can take several weeks for blood testing and interviews as the donor transplant team work diligently to ensure holistic care of the donor so they, too, can live a long and healthy life post-donation.

This is great news AND we are asked to continue to gather a list of other potential donors for what we hope will not be needed for the second round of testing. Thank you for choosing to do life alongside us.

02/21/2021

Dear Finn,

Life changed the moment my heart connected to yours--you were 7 months and scrawny with a fire for life. That cool afternoon in Shanghai, in November 2015, your dad, sister, and I thought we simply said yes to babysitting, little did we know that God was presenting an offering to ALL of us...the gift of family that would not become legal until July 2017.

We breathed a sigh of relief after the tumultuous and humbling journey getting the world to see us as family, thinking we were all set to do life. Hmmmmmm, we didn’t know that in just 6 short months, you would remind us of your bravery, your strength, and that spark of willingness to live. I fervently believe you got that from your birth mom. She did the bravest thing any mother could do...give her child life...more than that, she selflessly chose to give you life through the arms of another mother--me, because she knew she wanted more love for you. How beautiful and humbling a gift that I am forever indebted to! My hope is that she feels my spirit of gratitude oceans away and somehow her knowing will allow her to see that your BIG life has been so influential to many you’ll never know, several you will journey with, and a few you will remember. Finn, you come from a lineage of bravery, of truth, of certainty, and belonging...all of which delivered you to me--to us--to each other.

On December 27th, 2017, in that small tiny room at Boston Children’s Hospital, we found out that the spring in your step and the infectious pitch of your laughter was masking the weariness of your kidney:

CKD stage 3
Renal Dysplasia
VUR
Hyperparathyroidism
..were four of the eight lengthy medical terms of diagnosis they shared with your dad and me. At the end of that tunnel of echoing voices, there you were, on the floor, in between the white coats and shiny shoes--smiling, while playing with Thomas the Train...little engine that goes.

Today, February 2021, 3.5 years after diagnosis, you are at end-stage renal failure--CKD stage 5, on dialysis several times weekly, and you are growing weary, YET growing us all with your boundless joy, your concentration with legos and beads, your cuddles and kisses with Jie Jie, and never-ending, “...but why?”

I don’t know how much of a love letter to you this is, what I do know, is I hold a fullness in my heart for getting to be the one you call mommy, for getting to be the one you cuddle up within the middle of the night alongside Mr. Lion, Kangaroo, Dolphin, Gerald, Piggie, and the plethora of stuffies that slumber among us. I want the world to know that you are five, fun, feisty, fierce, fearless, fascinating, forgiving, flawed, funny, finicky, friendly, and flourishing. I want the world to know that you’d cherish the gift of a Kidney.
..And here I am, once again, looking for a brave soul, like your birth mom, who will selflessly give us you, through their kidney. Years ago, in the midst of our stars aligning...a friend said to me, “I don’t know the answers to the why’s, Christina, but I am here.” She didn't realize how profound those words were to me and how much they resonated, especially the last three...I am here. Those three words are what God reminds us through Her vessels here on earth. It is what our family, friends, acquaintances, and those unbeknownst to me teach me through their texts, food deliveries, cards, packages, and phone calls.

Today, I say to you, Finn, “I am here and the only answer I have is, at the end of all of this...I get to be your mommy.”

Love, Mom
In heart with Daddy and Jie Jie

Donor Criteria
If you are someone who would like to offer your kidney to our sweet little Finn, here are some things you should know to help guide your knowing and make an informed decision:

You need to have:
Blood type “B” or “O”
Overall Healthy
18 -55 years of age. Preferably 24-50 years of age.
BMI

Address

Roxbury Crossing, MA

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when A Love Story: Kidney for Finn posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to A Love Story: Kidney for Finn:

A Love Story: Kidney for Finn