A father's gift

A father's gift

McCollum family hopes to count more blessings in the days ahead

June 14, 2008 - 6:11PM
By Michael Abernethy / Times-News

MEBANE - Brad McCollum and his 13-month-old son Kenon Garland McCollum have a cherished routine.

Each day when Brad gets home from work, they sit on the couch and watch "The Andy Griffith Show." As the credits roll, Brad scoops Kenon up, carries him outside and places him in his favorite toy: a large, red wagon. Kenon bounces and squeals in delight as they circle the yard and chase rabbits out of the garden.

It's the favorite part of Brad's day because it's not guaranteed to happen again.

"Every day's a blessing with him," Brad, 32, says. "There have been a lot of days we didn't think he'd pull through. Five days after he was born, they pulled us in a room with doctors all around. They told us they didn't think he was going to make it. That was the worst day ever for us, I think."

Kenon was born one month premature, on April 22 of last year. When his mother Ashly McCollum, 23, completed labor, doctors told them Kenon had a 50 percent chance of survival.

Due to complications during his birth at Alamance Regional Medical Center, many of his internal organs failed, including his kidneys. Most of them bounced back but his kidneys never did. Due to renal failure, Kenon has undergone dialysis each day since birth. He's had 22 blood transfusions and four surgeries. He has a catheter and a feeding tube and he needs 11 intravenous medications each day.

"He's tough: Most grown people wouldn't be as good as him and he's happy," Ashly says, while Kenon giggled and played with his rattle Friday evening. Only hours before, doctors and nurses were busy sticking the boy with needles and drawing blood for tests due to a sudden high fever. Fevers are serious because they indicate possible infection of the catheter. That would mean another surgery. And an infection is doubly dangerous because Kenon's body can't handle regular antibiotics.

DURING HIS two months in UNC Children's Hospital, Brad and Ashly were trained how to use the dialysis machine and care for their fragile son.

When they finally got him home, barely a year ago, the McCollums were terrified of giving dialysis. The machine would sound alarms in the middle of the night, and the frightened, sleepy couple would have to tend to their son.

"A lot of new dads don't want to change dirty diapers. That's easy compared to what we have to do. I'd rather change a diaper than give him a shot. I don't want him to associate me with that," Brad says.

All that could change this summer.

When Kenon weighs 22 pounds, Brad will donate one of his kidneys to his son.

He's up to 19 pounds now. Every ounce makes a difference, and the couple has found themselves adding calories to everything they can get in him. Butter, whipped cream, sugar. If he wants cookies at 8 a.m., they feed him cookies.

The dialysis makes Kenon nauseous and he has trouble keeping food down.

"We get excited when he eats and doesn't get sick. It's a big deal. We clap and cheer for him when that happens," Ashly said.

Brad has completed seven of the nine tests required of his kidneys before he can donate them. Doctors at UNC Hospitals also continue to test the reaction between Kenon's and Brad's blood. So far, it seems like a good match: Kenon's blood isn't producing antibodies when Brad's blood is introduced.

"The biggest thing is if his body rejects it. If that happens, he won't make it. We've got one shot at this," Ashly said. "But they're optimistic. And he's so strong, that we're optimistic, too."

Looking at him, you'd never know Kenon's spent most of his life sick. He plays and scoots around in his walker. He loves Pepsi. He can do anything any other child his age can do, Ashly says, except slide on his belly, swim and take baths because of his catheter.

The challenge of keeping Kenon alive has been a strain on the couple. They've missed countless days of work, traveling nearly twice a week to the hospitals in Chapel Hill. Money is tight. Kenon needs $750 of medicine each day. When he was born, a week's supply of special baby formula cost them $200.

Ashly had to put plans to be a nurse on hold and scale back to working part time. She works 30 hours between two days each week as a pharmacy technician at CVS. Brad continues to work full time as a technician with Chisholm Heat and Air.

In those challenges, they've come to value things they once took for granted.

Their families are even more important to them now. Sisters and mothers take care of Kenon on the days they both have to work.

SUPPORT HAS come from unexpected places: Hawfields Presbyterian Church raised money to help them pay for medical supplies. Kids Path and Hospice have provided home nurses 50 hours each week when they didn't qualify for medical programs from the state. The Cherry Grove community in Caswell County, where Ashly grew up, held a fundraiser for them this spring.

"We're so grateful. We can't talk about this and not mention them," Ashly said.

The ordeal made them realize how important giving is. They've become strong advocates for organ donation ("If you aren't using it, give it to someone who can," Ashly says). Spending months driving back and forth to the hospital, they see now how valuable Ronald McDonald House is, housing families of hospitalized children and providing daily transportation free of charge.

It's also made them more appreciative of smaller things and each other, and more observant of God's hand in the world.

Since Kenon pulled through, Ashly believes in miracles. Brad says his faith has grown.

"The little things, work and that kind of stuff, don't matter so much anymore. He's the most important thing," Brad says. "I was really looking forward to being a father and I wanted a son. I wouldn't have him any other way."

http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/kenon_14603___article.html/day_brad.html