Karen Rodas and Paul Rybkin had just 36 hours with their newborn son, Nathaniel. He was born with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a condition that causes cysts to grow in the kidneys and can lead to kidney failure.
When their daughter Maddy was born in 2013, the New Jersey couple learned she had the same condition. She spent much of her first 18 months in and out of the hospital. Her belly had swollen, and tubes and oxygen treatments had become part of her early life.
Then Maddy grew so tired that she slept up to 18 hours a day. She was vomiting frequently, and doctors feared she might die unless they could find a suitable kidney donor.
Her dad turned out to be a match.
Two people she loved went into surgery
For Karen, the relief of finding a donor came with the fear of seeing both her daughter and her husband go into surgery.
“With Paul and Maddy, two of my most precious souls, going under the knife, my nerves were a wreck,” she recalled. Read the original coverage in The Sun.
The transplant was a success, and both Paul and Maddy recovered well. Karen said the little girl who had spent so much of her day asleep now had energy to spare. The swelling in her belly had gone down, and at two years old, she was happy and healthy.
Paul said he felt he had done what any father would do for his child. After years of uncertainty, he and Karen could look forward to watching their daughter grow up.
A milestone worth celebrating
In June 2019, Maddy’s family shared a milestone on Facebook. She had graduated from preschool and was getting ready for kindergarten.
For a family that had once waited to hear whether a donor could be found, getting ready for that first day of school was something to celebrate.
Share Maddy’s story to wish her and her family many more happy milestones.
