Kidney for MarkB

The last 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions. But God is good!!!
By the grace of God and the selfless act of kindness and gift of life from the living donor, my husband got his kidney transplant on Wednesday!!!

God is so good y’all! I just can’t say it enough. Mark is doing great, he is up and walking around already. Kidney is working great. We are beyond BLESSED!!! Please pray for Mark’s recovery and the recovery of the donor and may God bless that person abundantly always and in all ways! 💚✝️🙏🏼 Praise God!!!

*This is Melinda, Mark’s wife*

There were so many times when things felt like they were falling apart. I felt like I was grasping at straws trying to put everything back together. But it wasn’t up to me. It was all on God’s time.

Sometimes we don’t understand the why or the timing of it all. But it all worked out the way it was supposed to. On God’s time. He had a hand in it all. Every time it seemed it was obstacle changing the direction of things, that was the direction we needed to go. It led us to people that had been through this journey already or we needed in some way.

Every single time. We had a great team and a great support system. God was just working behind the scenes putting everything in place for us to get to this moment. And HE DID!!! Because of God, all of this possible and we cannot be more grateful and thankful. We know we are beyond blessed to get this blessing.

For those you going through it right now. I know it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But keep pushing forward!!! Do not give up! Stay in faith! Keep praying! God hears your cries and your prayers! Just keep going! 💚✝️🙏🏼

Good morning everyone 🤗 this is Mark’s wife Melinda. I just wanted to clarify that Mark did not get a kidney yesterday. His surgery was for something called a “fistula”. Many people use them for dialysis.

I noticed that there was a lot of confusion and thinking that Mark received a kidney transplant yesterday. He did not. It was fistula surgery.💚

This surgery will help him with dialysis going forward once it’s healed.

Prayers for a smooth recovery and transition are still very much appreciated. 💚 Thank you all so very much for your encouraging words and prayers.

God bless all of you!!! ✝️

Today was surgery day!!! And it was a success! Praise God!!! Fistula should heal nicely.

Prayers for a smooth recovery and transition would be greatly appreciated. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼💚

Back in the hospital again. Please keep him in your prayers. Trying to figure this out. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

First week of Hemo dialysis in clinic was a success!!! 💪🏼

Still trying to get the extra water weight off of him slowly. They can’t pull too much at once. But we are hopeful that once it’s off, it’ll be smooth sailing with Hemo.

Still undecided if we want to continue in center or switch to home Hemo. However, we are thankful that we even have ”options”, a lot of people don’t. That is something we will forever be grateful for.

For now we will continue to take it day by day and let God direct our steps. Even though the journey has been stressful, He has put who we needed when we needed them in our path at the moment we need them.

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep them coming. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼💚

God bless each and every one of you!!!

Feeling thankful we are able to have medical insurance. Had to pick up some of Mark’s meds and 😳

$728.99
$209.29
$40.69
$39.39
$32.19

What we had to pay out of pocket… $44.40 🎉🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

As stressful as this journey can be, God always makes sure things fall in place for us. 🥰💚🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Sooooo yesterday was his first dialysis treatment in center and it went smoothly!!! 🎉🤗 We still have stuff to smooth out, insurance stuff, training, options for home dialysis, session time, etc. But we have our foot in the door and are on the right track! 🙏🏼

Thank you again for everyone that had prayed for him and our family. 🥰❤️💚🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 It is very much appreciated.

We got discharged today and got to come home!!! Praise God!!!

Thank you all for your prayers!!! They are very much appreciated 🥰

So thankful to be home.

UPDATE- this is the easiest way to update everyone that wants to know

Within the last 3 months Mark has been hospitalized twice! 😱 1st was on Jan 26 to Feb 2. He was having some very rapid heart beats so we went to the hospital. They admitted him right away and after tests, we found out he had developed a heart flutter. They did a procedure on his heart to correct it and after some observation we were discharged.

Everything was good, until March 1. He stumbled and hit his head, so I had to take him to the ER to get checked for bleeding because he was placed on blood thinners from his last heart procedure. They admitted him right away and during his work up, they found that he had pneumonia! We didn’t even know. So they tested him for Covid and Flu, only flu b came back positive. So, he had flu and pneumonia. Was started on antibiotics right away through iv drip and his body responded beautifully. His heart rate started going up and back to normal many times during our stay so he was closely monitored but it just wouldn’t respond to the medications he was given. So they were going to have to shock his heart on Monday the 11th. On Sunday at 11:15pm his heart rate finally decides to coorperate!!! Praise God!!! Finally some progress.

Well in the process of clearing him for discharge, his EKG came back normal but his echo showed he had more fluid around his heart than a few days before. Not good. It needed to be drained. So, now he had to have surgery to drain it.

To everyone that has prayed for Mark Barrios, THANK YOU!!!! God heard our prayers! ❤️ His morning surgery on his heart was a success!!! However they removed a lot more fluid than they anticipated…2 liters of fluid!😱 Yes, like a 2 liter of soda, that much!😳🤯 The surgeon said she was so thankful we stayed to do his surgery, it would not have been a good outcome if we hadn’t. Everyone on each floor we ended up on(we had a lot of trips yesterday throughout the hospital) kept saying how lucky Mark was! Again,
GOD HEARD OUR PRAYERS!!!

The hospital kidney doctor spoke with us and said that leads to the conclusion that Mark’s PD dialysis is no longer working for him. 😭 We have to switch to Hemo(blood) dialysis if we want him here long term and to continue to live and function. Not the words we wanted to hear. I’m not gonna lie, tears were shed. But it is what it is and we have to do what we have to do to.

With that said, they had to schedule another urgent procedure for him, the placement of his permcath. That allows them access to give him hemo dialysis. That procedure was successful and he had his first treatment last night. He will get another treatment today and one tomorrow while here in the hospital so they can observe how his body responds to the treatment.

We still have a lot to figure out, insurance approval, training for a new machine and helping him transition.

Please pray that our transition is as smooth as possible 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 That Mark stays in good spirits, encouraged and that no more issues pop up!!!!

For everyone that has prayed for him, again, THANK YOU!!! I cannot say it enough. For everyone that has been texting, calling, sending food to us or the kids, thank you as well. Your support and encouragement is very much appreciated.

Sorry for the late update, I was mentally drained yesterday and couldn’t put the words together.

We love you all!!! ❤️🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

So, for Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law surprised me with a ticket to todays Cowboys game!!! I was beyond excited to go to this game today!

I took this sign with me to the game in hopes that it would circulate around and possibly get the attention of someone that could possibly help me. At this point, I need whatever exposure I can get and however I can get it.

Feel free to like and share this post!!! It is very much appreciated!

Hug your loved ones, tomorrow isn’t promised to none of us. Stay safe everyone and God Bless!