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Chester and Theresa were thrilled to hear that they were having twins after several years of trying to have children. It was mid-way through the pregnancy that they found out that one of the two babies was not completely healthy.
On October 12, 2005, Riley and Regan were born. Born prematurely, both babies were fragile, but Riley, especially, would have a very tough battle ahead of him. He was born with many complications - a heart defect, cystic-dysphasic kidneys, end-stage renal disease, a neurogenic bladder, imperforated anus and penal scrotal transposition.
Since the family lives in Georgia, Riley spent the first six months of life in the hospital in Atlanta. By the time Riley was 2 ½, he had undergone 10 procedures. Many of the procedures were done at Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, but he was faithfully returning to Wolfson Children’s for his dialysis treatments. In fact, he was 10 months old when he first was a patient at Wolfson.
At Wolfson, precious Riley was required to sit hooked up to the dialysis machine for three hours at a time, three times a week. His mom Theresa said that Riley always took these treatments all in stride. “He always has a smile on his face. He’s a trooper,” commented his mom. The staff in the Donna M. Hall Pediatric Dialysis Unit at Wolfson is really the best for this kind of care.
Riley followed this routine until just before Thanksgiving when he was able to receive a kidney from a living donor. On November 17, 2009, in a planned event from a family friend, the gift of a kidney was received for 4-year-old Riley. Since Wolfson Children’s does not do transplantation, Riley received his new kidney at Egleston in Atlanta.
In spite of the new kidney, Riley will still have quite a few challenges ahead of him. Currently, he is going to Atlanta all during the week to receive plasmapheresis, an anti-rejection treatment. He comes home each weekend so that the whole family can be together because now the Clements have a new baby, plus the twins. Mom, Theresa, said that Riley is doing very well.
Riley has a pet named Tipsy. He loves BBQ chips along with Mickey Mouse. He’s even quite the singer. Coming home each weekend gives Riley relief from what is the worst part of the whole ordeal to him, getting stuck for blood and IV’s. Theresa said that she really looks forward to being able to return to Wolfson Children’s Hospital for Riley’s care, once he is released from Atlanta.
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