Teen's transplant success shared
By Kelly Feser Eells

Ask Rosa Hernandez, whose son, Andy, underwent a kidney transplant on March 12, how things are these days and her eyes fill with tears - happy tears. "Pretty good; everything has turned out pretty good. Everyone's so nice I'm going to cry."
The "everyone" Hernandez refers to is the Ojai community at large, which has "helped us, my family, a lot."

She points to the generous response to the fund-raising efforts on her family's behalf (led by Gloria Jones, owner of Around the Corner Art Gallery, and Lourdes Carranza, herself a kidney transplant patient) as well as to the generous spirit of the people of Ojai themselves.

"We're so blessed," Hernandez smiled. "We'd like to thank everyone. Everyone!"

What makes her happiest, however, is seeing her 14-year-old son's energy return and the newfound twinkle in his eyes. "Andy feels so much better," she said. "Dialysis, well, it just makes you so tired."

Born with small, weak kidneys, Andy's health deteriorated to the point that, by age 11, his organs failed him completely. In late 2000, he began intensive dialysis treatment and, for nearly two-and-a-half years, "he's been connected to a machine, six days a week, 10 hours a day."

The family's search for a donor came to an end in October of 2002, when Andy's paternal uncle, Socorro Hernandez of Mexico, was found to be the closest match.

"The only match," notes Hernandez. "None of us" - including husband, Andreas and Andy's two sisters, Rosie and Brisa - "were even close."
Hernandez's brother-in-law arrived Oct. 31, and, since that time, "We've been doing test after test, twice a month at UCLA, right up until March."

Indeed, Socorro Hernandez is anxious to return home; he hasn't seen his wife and 10 children in more than five months.

In the interim, Andy's family has been supporting them (as Jones and Carranza announced last December, prompting donations to the LUPE, Latinos Unidos Pro Educación, account set up on Hernandez's behalf at Washington Mutual Bank).

"They're great people," said Carranza, who knows firsthand how debilitating kidney disease is, and the toll it takes on family and loved ones. "They want to let people know Andy's well, to let this community know they're thankful."

So thankful, in fact, that Hernandez gets teary-eyed again. "My son feels better than he has in years; he'll be going back to school full-time in the fall."

Andy's worsening condition, she explains, "made him miss a lot of school. A teacher (from Matilija Junior High) came here, to the house, and that helped a lot. But still he'd like to get out, see friends, do the things he did before," and soon, she smiles, "he'll be able to."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

Back to the news