What’s Up With Kevin is a “hidden” page I started on this blog in August of 2011 when Kevin was diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH). (Simply put: his immune system is attacking his liver and causing inflammation. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver.) He has had rough Freshmen years. He missed the entire first six weeks of his Freshman year in high school recovering from the emergency surgery that led to the AIH diagnosis.

He had to unenroll February 2016 and miss the rest of his second semester of his Freshman year at Crown College in Powell, Tennessee, near Knoxville, because of health complications stemming from AIH. That semester he was diagnosed with a bile duct disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. “Primary sclerosing (skluh-ROHS-ing) cholangitis (koh-lan-JIE-tis) is a disease of the bile ducts, which carry the digestive liquid bile from your liver to your small intestine. In primary sclerosing cholangitis, inflammation causes scars within the bile ducts. These scars make the ducts hard and narrow and gradually cause serious liver damage. In most people with primary sclerosing cholangitis, the disease progresses slowly and can lead to liver failure, repeated infections, and tumors of the bile duct or liver. Liver transplant is the only known cure for primary sclerosing cholangitis.” (I Googled it and pasted the least wordy definition this one from the MayoClinic page.)

He began the process we thought would be further down the road: He was listed and waited for a liver transplant from August of 2016 to September of 2017. He was listed for transplant in August of 2016 in Houston. He started the process of being dual listed at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans in May 2017. Kevin was evaluated there July 6-7, 2017, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and officially dual listed July 12, 2017!
He was transplanted Wednesday, September 6, 2017, at Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans!
Kevin “desires” to return to and continue his Pastoral Studies degree. (See helicopter doctor post below) He was able to take online classes through Crown during the Spring semester of 2017. It was a wonderful thing to see him listening to lectures online and reading and studying. Even sometimes on his worst days I saw him completing homework and reading assignments. We continue to praise Him that he found favor with the transplant team and was given an offer for a liver. This was a difficult thing to pray for because we knew a donor must lose their life to save Kevin’s. We trust Him because only He can orchestrate something this beautiful. We prayed faithfully that he would find favor with the transplant team and be given an offer in His time with His perfect will. I am so thankful for all who prayed with me that Kevin would continue to be strengthened, settled, and established through this entire process and healed in His time! We will give Him glory and praise, “For ye are our glory and joy.” 1 Thessalonians 2:20

As I update this paragraph he is packing to return to Crown! He is enrolled for the Fall semester of 2018 and will be studying pastoral ministries. My prayer for Kevin as he returns is from 2 Chronicles 16:9 that He would find Kevin strong and worthy to be used of Him. And that Kevin would be diligent in his study and walk with the Lord and day to day life, and that his testimony would stay above reproach. From Ps. 1:2 I ask that Kevin would delight in His law as he meditates day and night in it. I ask from Daniel 9:22 that He would give Kevin skill and understanding in each of his classes. From Lev. 8:11-12; 30 and Jeremiah 1:5 I am praying that Kevin would be sanctified — set apart for His service. I also beg Him for protection for Kevin as he drives on those winding and narrow Tennessee roads from his dorm to the school.

So, if you have found your way to this page then you must really care for my son Kevin. I wanted to leave the paragraphs above as a way to explain what is going on specifically. All the stuff below this is the somewhat detailed daily and or weekly updates I post when I have time. It is our medical memory if you will. (It has been a great tool especially keeping up with tests, labs, medicine dosages, and procedures!)