MOM TIME
The Katy Kidney Beans When women join a mom’s group, they expect to spend their play dates talking about sleep schedules, eating habits, and potty training, not lab results, specialist appointments, and hospital-stay advice. But, for Katy, Texas residents Emma Zone and Harmony Keel that’s how their friendship developed when they met in a mom’s group in 2008 and subsequently both had sons born with congenital kidney problems. Upon birth, in May of 2009, Zone’s son, Mitch, was diagnosed with a rare congenital problem in his urinary tract called “Posterior Urethral Valves,” which affects one in 8,000 boys. At ten days old, he faced his first surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital to clear the blockage in his urethra, only to have to repeat the procedure two months later. Unfortunately, the damage was done; Mitch’s right kidney was damaged beyond repair. “At that point, keeping the right kidney in was more of a risk because of infection,” said Zone. At six months of age, Mitch had his right kidney removed. At the same time Mitch was facing his diagnosis, Keel, who was 26 weeks pregnant with twin boys, learned that both boys each had one enlarged kidney. “I immediately called Emma after we had the ultrasound because I knew Mitch had gone through a similar ordeal,” explained Keel. In December of 2009, the twins, Josiah and Kennan, arrived six weeks early and spent four weeks in the NICU, which Keel describes as a time that was filled with uncertainty. “I knew from Emma how important it was to be proactive and really advocate for further testing to be done, so the day after we were released from the NICU, we went to the Urology clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital.” It was at that appointment that Keel learned that Kennan’s issue only required monitoring, while Josiah needed to have surgery to
remove a blockage in his ureter (the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder), which involved draining the kidney, reconstructing a portion of it, and reimplanting the ureter to the correct reconstructed area on the kidney. In spite of the surgeries, both boys are thriving, and Zone and Keel, along with their husbands, Andy and Ben, wanted to do something to honor the good health of their sons. “That is why we formed the Katy Kidney Beans,” explained Zone. “I saw information about the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walks held around the country, so I called Harmony to see if she wanted to join forces to raise money and awareness.” The Katy Kidney Beans will participate in the Houston Kidney Walk on April 30, 2011. “We have a lot of exciting things planned—from a Facebook silent auction to a Kindermusik Playdate—all in the effort to raise money for our team,” said Keel. The team has set a goal to raise $5,000 for the Southeast Texas chapter of the National Kidney Foundation. “When we met, never did we dream we’d become connected in this way,” said Zone.“We are just so blessed that we can use this experience to make an impact in our community. Our goal is to bring hope to others facing chronic issues—one kidney bean at a time.” If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the Katy Kidney Beans, please visit: http://donate.kidney.org/goto/katykidneybeans