A Kidney For Ken: Another Successful Kidney Walk!!

Ken With A Kidney!

Ken and Terry

Sunday was a GREAT day for the Roig Family. We took part in the 2012 Kidney Walk. The Renal Roigs raised over $1,000 for the Kidney Foundation. Our team was made up of family - our daughters, Stefanie and Kelly and their husbands Danny and Alex. Our son, Greg, and his wife Camille were there with Jim and Mary, Camille's parents from California and Camille's Aunt Meg. Ken's sister Sheila and brother David with his wife Tammy and children Gabby and Joel participated. My cousin Frank and his wife Barbara and my cousins Becky, Sue, and her husband Jerry came. Our good friends Roberta, Ken and Darren Chevis joined us. Ken's cousin Rhonda and her husband Terry walked too. Kelly got a wonderful surprise when her friends showed up to walk with our team - Holly, James, Poppy, Ashley Z, Paige, Becky, and Ashleigh P. Greg's friends Tim and Lauren joined us as well as our new friends Colleen and John. We want to thank everyone who walked with us in person or in spirit and for their prayers and well wishes. It was a celebration of the gift that Alex, our son-in-law, gave to Ken. It was a time to focus on encouraging others to consider the gift of life - becoming a donor. We hope more people will walk with us next year. As you can see by the pictures, fun was had by all. Sally Ann Roberts from WWL-TV came out to the Kidney Walk to do a follow-up on the story she did in August on Alex and Ken. On the morning show this week, Sally Ann talked about Ken and Alex two months after the transplant surgery. She said our family is dedicated to "paying it forward" by encouraging organ donations and bringing attention to other causes in our community. We have been blessed in many ways by this blog and we hope to share our blessings with others. Thank you Sally Ann for all you do for this community and for making all of us aware of the need for bone marrow donors as well as organ donors. May this blog encourage others to find out more about becoming a living donor!

This week Ken and I went to his clinic visit to get the results of his kidney biopsy. The doctor said the kidney is showing a mild acute rejection. This apparently is very common and many transplant patients experience this a few times in the 3 to 6 months after the transplant surgery. They will start treatment immediately which will be IV infusions of steroids for 3 days and then oral steroids for awhile. The infusion should last about 45 minutes. Good news it can be done as an outpatient procedure. They will monitor his blood levels daily. He will also have another Echogram since he still gets short of breath occasionally. One positive bit of news from our visit is that Ken was told by the doctor that he could start playing golf again soon. YAY!!!!!!!

So life goes on and we enjoy the blessings we receive each and every day. Some days the journey takes strange turns but God is our guide and He knows the way. We trust in Him and know that He loves us so much and knows what is best for us. We ask as always that you keep those AWESOME prayers coming our way. You are our "Prayer Warriors!"

Until the next time may the Lord carry us on our journey,
Pat