WOODLAWN, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – If you could meet 2-year-old Diego Reyes, resting in the arms of his mom, Brittany Reyes, on the family’s front porch in Woodlawn, you would not imagine that he has a care in the world.
He appears to be like any other healthy and happy toddler. His mom says he is an active kid; he loves to run and play outside. He also likes to play with tractors and toy cars.
But every morning, Diego takes three medicines, two for his blood pressure and one antibiotic to help prevent a kidney infection, and at night he takes more blood pressure medicine. In addition to his regular visits to the doctor, he gets monthly blood tests and a kidney ultrasound every three months.
And, before long, he’s going to need a kidney transplant.
Diego was born with a rare condition known as Denys-Drash syndrome, his mother said. It causes him to have high blood pressure and leads to kidney failure, which, in most cases, happens before the child reaches the age of 5. The condition also puts him at a high risk for a type of kidney cancer called a Wilms tumor.
The family is hoping that someone will donate a kidney to Diego.
“The doctors are still doing tests, and, when they decide they are ready to do the transplant, they will put him on the transplant list,” said Reyes. His father, Cesar, is being tested, but at this time there are no members of Diego’s family that are a match to donate a kidney.
Reyes added the doctors say a living donor is best for him so they can plan it out and not have to do it suddenly with a donated kidney. They also say the blood type has to be a perfect match for the kidney transplant to last longer because he will probably have to have another transplant later on in life.
Anyone interested in kidney donation or to find out if they are eligible to be a donor can visit www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/webapps/donors or call the Vanderbilt Kidney Transplant Center at 615-936-0695.