• New Years Day Morning we woke up to Zachary having a fever of 105.2, so we packed our bags and drove to the Hospital. Great way to start off the New year!!!! Well a 3 day stay and lots of test and lab draws. Zachary had some sort of viral infection that really knocked him down. They sent us home Wednesday night we had them leave his IV in his arm. Zachary had a eye surgery we had previously scheduled for the next morning. After settling into our third room we really wouldn’t have minded staying over night to avoid the hassle of packing up and going home only to return at 7:00a.m the next morning. Zachary did very well with his eye surgery. While he was out they did a exam and performed a ERG (Electroretinogram) this is an eye test that evaluates the function of the film (retina). Their intial thought is his retina looks a little thin. We will not have the results back for a couple of weeks. We are all home and well. Hopefully, this year will be a healthy year for all of us. Zachary had a doctors appointment today at the U of M with Dr. Najara, (his kidney specialist) for his 6 month check. She didn’t like that he hadn’t made any significant weight gain. His speech is delayed and he is still being feed through his g-tube. I have tried everything, two years later and still struggling. We meet with a new speech and feeding specialist on Jan 25 hopefully we have progress. However, she was impressed with how he has matured. He was very cooperative and eager to be looked over. Not at all how he acted a year ago.

  The rest of the family is doing great. Wade has an appointment next Friday to have a physical and to check his one good kidney. {Which is long over do, 2yrs}.
  Kiley is doing great in school and gymnastics. Kiley will turn 7 on Jan 25, the day we meet with the speech specialist.
  Austin is getting so big and sharing clothes with Zach. He is walking all over and trying hard to talk.
  Stacey is busy making Doctor appointments, going to doctor appointments , taking kiley to gymnastic and lots of laundry. Just all that fun stuff.

  God bless you all and Happy New year

  Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers

  The Elsenpeters

Zachary turned 3 on Dec 17, it’s hard to believe that he was born 3 years ago. Two weeks after he was born we found out that he had bad kidney’s and would need a transplant. I will never forget that day sitting in a room down at Childrens Hospital, not knowing what was wrong with our baby Zach. I just thought maybe he was still acting like he was born to earlier and just was not ready to endure the struggles that lie ahead of him. If only I knew to prepare our family. The day we found out my heart fell through the ground, I just never thought this could happen to such a little innocent baby. But now I look back at everything that we have endured over the last 3 years , and all I can think about is our future and what lies ahead. I have a wonderful husband that saved our little Zachary, by donating one of his kidneys ,who is a miracle that lights up my day every time I see his smile. A daughter Kiley who has seen and endured more than any child should, and our wonderful baby Austin who taught me that I have more love in my heart to give.

Thank you for all your support and prays.

God bless you all, Merry Christmas and happy New Year.

Love, Stacey

Hey all!!, Zachary’s two year anniversary is December 1st. Wow that went fast. Zachary had labs today and his creatinine was down to 0.6, Yippy. That is the lowest it has been in about 3 months. Well the rest of Zach is doing alright, his EBV( related to cancer) has gone up and down like a rollercoaster from 4600-17,000. I’ll take the 4,600 anyday. Zach had a EEG done today for the blinking of his eyes which we should get the results back by Monday. They think he might have a little tick. He has a couple of procedures coming up in the next month, an MRI on Monday for his chest and a EER for his eyes. They think that his retina might be detaching. Since they are not sure, it’s better to be safe then sorry. Some more good news! Zachary loves CHEESE, Not the smile – the food! He will eat and swallow a whole piece.

Now the rest of the family: Kiley is doing great in school, She has gotten 100% on every spelling test but one. Way to go Kiley!! Austin is getting so big 26lbs and growing, not walking on his own yet but all around the house with his push walker. Wade is working so hard just to support his family what a guy, you can’t ask for anything more, and me, just doing research everyday on the diagnoses they keep coming up with.

The baby featured in the photos is Zacharys baby doll and he has been taking such good care of him. The doll has also been equipted with a mickey-button(feeding tube) just like Zachary!

God bless you all and Happy start to your Holidays.

-Stacey-

I know it’s been a long time since we have updated. A lot has been going on. Zachary has had high blood pressure and his lab levels have been higher then the doctors would like to see. Zachary had a kidney biopsy about two weeks ago. The results were not good. It showed that he is in chronic kidney failure. Forty percent of the kidney has already died off. The positive!! Is that he still has 60 percent left. They started him on a new drug that will hopefully slow down the process of the kidney failure and give him a little more time before another Transplant. I asked the doctors when they think this might happen and they said sooner then later. So talk about stress. I can’t imagine Zachary going through another Transplant. Three of our good friends, And my mom Gina are willing to get tested to see if they might be a match. Zachary has school every Tuesday and loves it. He is talking so much. Only I can understand him but, that is how it starts. The rest of our family is doing good, Wade is back working days. Kiley is loving school and is doing great in gymnastics. Austin is getting so big he is 24lb and crawling all over. As for myself I am doing great just happy to see my family growing bigger and stronger each day. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. GOD BLESS YOU ALL

Love Stacey

Today, Zachary attended his first movie ! The movie was CARS by Disney/Pixar. He was joined by Mom,Dad,sister Kiley and her friend Abbey. Little Bro Austin spent some quality time with Gma & Gpa. Zachary was well primed for the film thanks to the movie trailers on Disney channel, toy cars at McDonalds and most of all his new power wheels car; LIGHTING McQUEEN. He did very well until the last half hour. If it wasn’t for the half hour of previews I think he may have made it.

-Wade-