Alyssa's Kidney Support

Alyssa's Kidney Support Alyssa's kidney transplant journey

06/05/2025

After a 7-night and 8-day all-inclusive stay at.......home, Alyssa went back to OSU Wexner and has been there for a little over a week now. She was able to tune in to her body's needs and got there before she was critical this time. However, over the weekend, she played with trying to be critical as she started having difficulty breathing, her oxygen levels dropped into the high 70s, and low 80s and she ended up on 12 liters of oxygen and slept for 2 days. The culprit, of course, is pneumonia in the lower and middle lobes of the right lung. She has been battling GI issues for several months so those doctors are now involved. After she completely comes off oxygen (she is down to 2 liters), they will do an endoscopy. Pulmonary decided that since she would be asleep for the endoscopy, they would like to take advantage of that and repeat a bronchoscopy, just to be sure they haven't missed anything.
Her feeding tube was taken out yesterday. They only like to leave them in (through the nose) for about a month and then start talking about a more permanent tube being placed directly into the stomach. Alyssa is not ready for that so she is trying to increase her caloric intake. Please send recipes!!!! The hardest part of this for her is the cafeteria offers the same things every day! Again, please send recipes. We can take food to her!

We are unsure of a discharge date at this time. Everyone feels defeated (but no more than Alyssa does) not knowing why this keeps happening, including her doctors. I was stunned to witness her pulmonologist pull up a chair and look defeated. The concern and compassion he has for her is unparalleled. The main reason Alyssa chose to have her kidney transplant at OSU is because her pulmonologist, who is highly respected there, spoke with the transplant team and explained her complexity to them. We love Dr. Kirkby!
Please pray for guidance for him so that he is able to pinpoint the exact problem and find a solution so Alyssa can get her life back!
Keep the prayers coming. We see a breakthrough heading her way!!
As always, we love all of you!

A picture is worth 1,000 words.
05/20/2025

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

Happy Mother's Day!Alyssa is still in the hospital. She opted to have an NG (feeding) tube placed for nutrition reasons...
05/11/2025

Happy Mother's Day!

Alyssa is still in the hospital. She opted to have an NG (feeding) tube placed for nutrition reasons. She is also having difficulty coming off the oxygen. She was sick to her stomach with vomiting today. They are changing her anti nausea meds around to see if that helps. They are also tossing around doing another Bronchoscopy to see if they can find a reason she can't come off her oxygen. Right now, there is no discharge date being discussed.
Thanks for the cards that have come in the past couple of days and thanks for the continued prayers and love.

As always, we love all of you

Saying hi and sending love to her three nieces! Alyssa had a breathing test today, PFT's. The results were nowhere nea...
05/06/2025

Saying hi and sending love to her three nieces!

Alyssa had a breathing test today, PFT's. The results were nowhere near her baseline, but at least we know what she is working with. Please continue to pray.
As always, we love all of you!!

Baby steps turn into toddler steps. Although she is still somewhat weak and tired, she is up walking with OT today. He...
05/02/2025

Baby steps turn into toddler steps. Although she is still somewhat weak and tired, she is up walking with OT today. Her port placement went without incident, and for that, we are so thankful! Please continue to pray for her, especially stregnth. My brother and daughter have started praying to two years' worth of strength that has been stolen from her. I think that sounds like a great prayer! vacation?
Thanks for all the prayers that are being sent up and for the love being sent her way!
Thank you, Nikki, Sammie and James, Grannie and Brian and Cindy!
As always, we love all of you!!

05/01/2025

Update on address

OSU Wexner Medical Center
Alyssa Smith Room 800
410 W 10th Ave
Columbus, Ohio 43210

05/01/2025

Quick update. Yesterday started slow with her feeling really weak. The day ended with her eating grilled chicken and a sweet potato from Outback Steakhouse!! Today will start with going to Interventional Radiology for her port. Please pray this is a smooth process and no complications. She did say to me that she felt like a burden on me. I assured her that she is NOT! Let's get her room flooded with happy things.

Alyssa Smith. Room 800
410 W 10th Ave
Columbus, Ohio 43210

I will let you know how things went later this evening.
As always, we love all of you!

04/30/2025

🎶🎶Pushed down so low, don't know if you're ever gonna get relief. So take my lungs til you can breathe.
It's just a chapter in your story. Turn that page and grab that pen. Cause darling, everything will be all right. If it's not alright, then it's not the end.🎶🎶🎶

After a few days of doctors hearing us but not listening, we had a breakthrough this morning with the primary team (and I didn't have to be ugly...lol).
She is having some memory loss, so they are going to get a scan of her head. I don't expect there to be anything wrong. We (family) believe it is from being septic, but the doctors that be don't want to admit that just yet. She remains very weak and is still talking very softly. If she exerts herself or has any amount of coughing (and that is frequent) her oxygen levels fall into the upper 80's and she still has some low blood pressures that are being looked into. They are discussing putting a port in. Even with ultrasound, she has no veins for an IV at this time nor can they get labs. Pray the existing IV holds out but currently it is not returning blood.
She has a long road ahead of her.
I will give out her room information soon so everyone can send cards to decorate her room. She is being moved to a bigger room, so I'll do it then.
As always, we love all of you!

This isn't the way we hoped to spend this beautiful Sunday.When I got home from work this morning at 0610, I checked in...
04/27/2025

This isn't the way we hoped to spend this beautiful Sunday.
When I got home from work this morning at 0610, I checked in on Alyssa. She was asleep but breathing pretty fast. As I sat down to unwind before bed, I heard her start a breathing treatment. After she finished, I went to her room to check on her. She said her lungs hurt like they were sore. I asked her if she wanted Tylenol and she declined and told me good night. Before I could get my eyes fully closed, she called me on my cell phone (from her bedroom) and told me she couldn't catch her breath. Fast forward.....called for a squad, taken to MVH South (non ER because I haven't had a chance to sit with the EMS Captain and explain her complexity to him). After 3 IV's, 5 liters of oxygen and the Bipap, she coughed up half a lung full of green mucus. Chest xray shows.......drumroll please because you won't believe it........PNEUMONIA for the third time in 8 weeks. She bought herself an ICU bed at MVH until an ICU bed opens up at OSU.
OSU infectious disease doctors had come up with a mixture of IV antibiotics that should have taken care of the pneumonia last time. She is incredibly weak. Please pray for her for strength and for us as we try to come up with questions that will guide the doctors to find the source of the problem.
As always, we love all of you.

Today, OSU Wexner University Hospital honored all donors and recipients of organ transplantation completed there. Pinwhe...
04/13/2025

Today, OSU Wexner University Hospital honored all donors and recipients of organ transplantation completed there. Pinwheels were placed for each surgery since the beginning.


Thank you, Becky Mann!!!!

She is home!!!! A little weak and tired, but happy to be back home! And, I think her baby missed her!She can still us...
04/11/2025

She is home!!!! A little weak and tired, but happy to be back home! And, I think her baby missed her!
She can still use prayers. She needs her appetite to return and nausea to stay away.

04/04/2025

Things are progressing. The abdominal pain is mostly gone. In trying to figure out what was going on with her abdomen, we did find that the catheter to her femoral central line is in her renal vein of her new kidney. Not a good placement. It will still infuse but will need to be pulled. She is slated to go home on IV antibiotics, so she will get a new central line on Monday. She is feeling defeated as it seems that if something can go wrong, it does.
Thanks for all the prayers that were sent up on her behalf. Please pray that this is the final setback that she will face and can begin feeling 100% better.
Thanks for all the prayers, and as always, we love all of you.

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Xenia, OH
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