Father Donates Kidney to 9-Month-Old Son

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Father Donates Kidney to 9-Month-Old Son

By Jana Shortal
KARE-TV Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Kadin Hoven has had one heck of a life. Since he was born last March he has needed one thing that only his dad could give him.

"We got really lucky that I matched up," Shawn Hoven said when talking about donating a kidney to his son.

Kadin, in total kidney failure at birth, needed a donor if he was going to have any life at all.
But because Dad was to be the donor Kadin had to wait until he was big enough to receive the kidney.

While he waited Kadin was on a dialysis machine every single day for 12 hours.

"It's just what we do and I told Shawn that God only gives us what we can handle and He thought we could handle it or he would not have been born," said Kadin's mother Heidi Hoven.

The surgery is rare.

Doctors at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, however, are confident that surgery, even in very young children is better than dialysis.

"Transplantation early in life gives the child the best possible chance of normal development," Dr. Clifford Kashtan said.

And so three weeks ago Shawn gave his nine month old son his kidney. "My first concern after surgery was him," Shawn said.

"As soon as the nurse came out and said they were sewing in the kidney I just lost it I couldn't stop," Heidi said.

The surgery was a total success.
Shawn's adult kidney, once placed in Kadin's abdomen, began to shrink to fit the little guy and now in time it will grow as he does.

"At our institution children his size have the same outcomes as older children and adults as far as success rate in transplantation," Dr. Kashtan said.

The Hoven's are hoping to take Kadin home by the end of the month.

He'll need to be on medication for the rest of his life and there's a good chance he'll need another kidney transplant when he's an adult.


KARE-TV Minneapolis
URL: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/health/news-article.aspx?ref=rss&storyid=73771