At just 16yo, Christian has already faced more challenges than most people will experience in a lifetime. Yet to to us, his family, and those who know his story best, Christian's life is more than a story of medical hardship and survival. It is a testimony to the faithfulness of God.
Christian was born extremely premature at only 25 weeks gestation. From his first moments of life the odds seemed stacked against him. He faced kidney failure, bronchial Pulmonary dysplasia, Prune Belly Syndrome, and numerous other serios medical complications. His earliest years were spent in hospitals, surrounded by doctors, machines, surgeries, and uncertainty.
But they were also surrounded by prayer.
As an infant, Christian underwent multiple surgeries, including treatment for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which resulted in the loss of a portion of his bowel. He also required PDA ligation surgery to close a blood vessel near his heart, and numerous chest tubes. As he has grown into a young teen the surgeries are still continuing with a roadmap of scars on his 16yo body with him being to surgery number 28.
Then, at only age 3 years old, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Once again, we were finding ourselves facing circumstances no parent ever imagined having to face. The cancer and its treatment took an enormous toll on his already fragile body. Damage to his kidneys eventually. required the removal of his right kidney. Chemotherapy caused severe complications, including a paralyzed gut that further complicated his existing Prune Belly syndrome.
During his battle with cancer, Christian experienced seizures, temporary diabetes caused by chemotherapy and steroids, three blood clots, and severe neuropathy that left him unable to walk for sometime, leaving him with another obstacle. Learning how to walk all over again.
There were multiple times when we were told to call family expecting and believing we would be saying our final goodbyes. And yet, each time, God's will prevailed.
Our family does not look back those moments and see coincidence. We see the hand of God carrying our son through circumstances that, time and again, seemed impossible. Through frightening diagnoses, desperate prayers, long nights in hospital rooms, and moments when the future was completely unknown, our faith remained rooted in the belief that Christian belonged first to God and that God was not finished with his story.
Christian survived cancer, but his medical journey hasn't ended there. Throughout his childhood, he has continued to endure surgeries, specialist appointments, hospitalizations, procedures, and ongoing medical care. Today, he lives with Stage 4 Kidney Failure. He requires catheterization every 4 hours and uses a Foley throughout the night, which also leaves him vulnerable to frequent urinary tract infections.
The medications necessary to manage his condition sometimes cause episodes of passing out. He has also developed bradycardia with junctional beats, which resulted in a mysterious and curious case of Grade III Heart Block.
And still, Christian keeps going!
By God's grace, he has not yet required dialysis. He is now on the kidney transplant list, waiting for the gift that could change the course of his life.
As we prepare for the transplant, we are stepping into another season of uncertainty that will require tremendous faith.
The transplant team requires families to demonstrate financial stability to help cover expenses throughout hospitalization and recovery. Because his transplant care will take place more than 100 miles from home, we will also need to travel to Oklahoma City 1-2 times each week for as long as a year following his transplant.
This fundraiser is an opportunity to help us and Christian walk into this next chapter of life with hopefully less of a financial burden so we can focus our energy where it belongs: Christian's health, recovery, and future.
But above all, we ask for prayer. Prayer for the kidney that Christian needs and that the kidney takes and does not reject. Pray for the donor and the family whose own story may ultimately become intertwined with Christian's. Pray for his doctors, nurses, and transplant team. Pray for the protection over Christian's body and for strength throughout the transplant and recovery process. and pray that God continues to guide every step of the journey, just as the family believes he has done since the day Christian entered this world at only 25 weeks.
What makes Christian's story so remarkable is not simply everything he has survived, but the spirit with which he continues to live.
Most people who meet him would never know the battles his body fights every day. He rarely complains. He continues to find joy in life and simply wants the same things most 16 year old boys want. to live, grow, laugh, experience life, and look forward to his future.
For sixteen years, our family has watched God make a way through circumstances that often seemed to have no way through. His life has taught us that faith does not mean the absence of fear, hardship, or unanswered questions. sometimes faith is trusting God in the middle of all of them.
Christian's story is still being written. As he waits for a kidney transplant, we invite you to become a small part of that story. Whether through financial gift, sharing his story,, offering encouragement, or simply lifting Christian up in prayer. Every act of support matters.
Christian has spent his entire life overcoming what once seemed impossible. we believe there is a reason he is still here, that God has faithfully carried him this far, and that He will continue to lead us through whatever comes next.
"For I know the Plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ---- Jeremiah 29:11
Please join us in praying , believing, and helping Christian step into that future.
