Samuel and Esther Smith need kidneys!!!

^^Samuel and his dad before his surgery on Friday^^

Hey everyone!





Some homeschooling friends of our family, the Smiths, have three children who have a rare genetically-recessive kidney disease, Juvenile Nephronophthisis, and retina pigmentosa, which together are called Senor-Loken Syndrome. Samuel was diagnosed first of all of the kids. His father donated one of his kidneys for Samuel. Unfortunately, complications during the surgery damaged the kidney and almost cost Samuel his life. After a long time of pain during recovery, he had kidney failure. A few days ago he had surgery for multiple hernias all along the incision line. He is recovering, but is in great pain right now. Please be praying for his encouragement. If you can, please share his story with your church families and please remember that he needs a kidney badly. Anyone who would like to see if they are a match for Samuel can contact his mom at smiths@smithfamilyfarmvt.com. If you wonder about what it's like to be a donor, you can contact my dad who donated his kidney last year to a friend of ours in NJ.





Second, Esther needs a kidney as well. Although not as severe as Samuel, she too has limited kidney function. She is in surgery today for a fistula. Pray that she will recover nicely as well. the Smiths are hoping that she will have a kidney donation before she will ever have to use her fistula. Please pray that they will find one soon, and spread the news around!!





Katie, their eldest daughter, was diagnosed with the same thing after Samuel. She had a kidney donor and is doing fantastic.





I hope that you won't hesitate to share this with your church family. This is a real need and they need all of the pray that we can give them.





Lyd