CELEBRATE
Photo credit: Flytographer
the Gift of Life
Calvin
with h
i s dad
, Loyd,
an d his
mom, Ch
ristine.
Calvin’s Transplant Story
WINTER 2022 | VOLUME 39
A transplant story through the eyes of a mother:
Calvin's Transplant Story
1
Message from the Chairman
2
Message from the CEO
2
Message from the SVP, Fund Development
3
Message from the Director of Family Relations
3
Calvin's Transplant Journey Continued
4
Celebrating with Oak Bay Beach Hotel's Oliver Bear
6
A Story of Perserverance, Thanks and Survival
7
A Review of Spectacular 2022
8
Ways to Give
10
Thank You to All Our Partners
11
Organ Donation Facts
12
Just
over
four
years
ago,
our
world
turned upside down the Saturday before Thanksgiving. My husband and I rushed our son to the Alberta Children’s Hospital as he had been sick on and off for two weeks with
Calvin TRANSPLANT NEEDED: KIDNEY HOME: CALGARY, AB
a cough and after numerous visits to clinics his condition had gotten worse. Five minutes into the ACH emergency triage the trauma team was called and we knew something serious was going on. Numerous blood tests were done and the fear of the unknown finally came to a halt when we were advised that our precious son’s kidneys were failing and he would need to be put on dialysis. That feeling of wanting to pause the moment and digest everything is so real. So many questions came crashing into our minds, the biggest of which was “why?”. We were scared to death, but we knew we had to remain strong. The only words that I could manage formed a question, will my son still live? We were assured that they would do everything to keep him alive and do the best they can. We were rushed to the ICU, I was hugging my son telling him that he was a strong brave
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boy and he would make it through. He was later diagnosed with
DAVIDFOSTERFOUNDATION.COM
Alberta Children’s Hospital was our home for almost two months.
Infantile Nephronophthisis, a rare genetic condition which can cause childhood kidney failure and was put on peritoneal dialysis. The
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