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Adam Peterson, a Yoncalla teen, was diagnosed with kidney failure last year and is on a list awaiting a transplant. His sister, Melissa, is pictured at right.
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ENLARGE
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Adam Peterson, a Yoncalla teen who was diagnosed with kidney failure last year, continues to play basketball for Yoncalla High School and hopes to get a fifth year of eligibility since he missed so much playing time due to illness.
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YONCALLA — As Adam Peterson dribbled the ball during a scrimmage game last week, he appeared happy.
The catheter bandaged under his loose-fitting Oregon Ducks T-shirt was undetectable. He dribbled around defenders and made his way to the basket effortlessly, showing no sign of fatigue from the three and a half hours he spent hooked up to a dialysis machine the day before.
By now, he’s used to it.
In January 2007, Adam was taken to the hospital for extreme fatigue after a Yoncalla High School basketball game. At 17, he was diagnosed with kidney failure. Viral infections had caused his kidneys to shut down, and Adam spent close to three months at Doernbecher’s Children’s Hospital in Portland before returning home.
Less than two weeks later, he was back in the hospital — this time Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. He was diagnosed with a fungal disease commonly called the “bird disease.” He spent another two months in the hospital.
Since May, Adam has stayed out of the hospital, but he and his mother Robyn have been driving to Springfield three times a week for dialysis treatment. Although Adam would rather spend his Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays elsewhere, the dialysis has kept him strong enough to return to the basketball court this season.
The catheter bandaged under his loose-fitting Oregon Ducks T-shirt was undetectable. He dribbled around defenders and made his way to the basket effortlessly, showing no sign of fatigue from the three and a half hours he spent hooked up to a dialysis machine the day before.
By now, he’s used to it.
In January 2007, Adam was taken to the hospital for extreme fatigue after a Yoncalla High School basketball game. At 17, he was diagnosed with kidney failure. Viral infections had caused his kidneys to shut down, and Adam spent close to three months at Doernbecher’s Children’s Hospital in Portland before returning home.
Less than two weeks later, he was back in the hospital — this time Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. He was diagnosed with a fungal disease commonly called the “bird disease.” He spent another two months in the hospital.
Since May, Adam has stayed out of the hospital, but he and his mother Robyn have been driving to Springfield three times a week for dialysis treatment. Although Adam would rather spend his Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays elsewhere, the dialysis has kept him strong enough to return to the basketball court this season.
“Before I was diagnosed, I had pain in my back, and anything I would eat I would throw up,” he said. “I feel just fine with dialysis. Now I can run up and down the court and feel fine.”
In the coming weeks, Adam, 18, will undergo surgery to have his gallbladder removed. The procedure, along with the removal of eight teeth that have become prone to infection from medications, is required before Adam can have a kidney transplant.
After watching her brother struggle for months, Adam’s 20-year-old sister Melissa decided she wanted to be the one to donate a kidney to her younger brother.
“It’s my baby brother,” Melissa said, with tears filling her eyes. “I would give him the world if I could.”
But last week, the family was dealt a devastating blow. Adam’s doctors called — they have decided not to let Melissa donate her kidney. Doctors fear that Melissa’s remaining kidney would not be able to function at 73 percent, something that is required of all donors’ bodies.
Melissa, Adam and their parents took a class about the procedure, and despite their mother’s worries about having two children in an Intensive Care Unit, the family was ready to move forward.
In the coming weeks, Adam, 18, will undergo surgery to have his gallbladder removed. The procedure, along with the removal of eight teeth that have become prone to infection from medications, is required before Adam can have a kidney transplant.
After watching her brother struggle for months, Adam’s 20-year-old sister Melissa decided she wanted to be the one to donate a kidney to her younger brother.
“It’s my baby brother,” Melissa said, with tears filling her eyes. “I would give him the world if I could.”
But last week, the family was dealt a devastating blow. Adam’s doctors called — they have decided not to let Melissa donate her kidney. Doctors fear that Melissa’s remaining kidney would not be able to function at 73 percent, something that is required of all donors’ bodies.
Melissa, Adam and their parents took a class about the procedure, and despite their mother’s worries about having two children in an Intensive Care Unit, the family was ready to move forward.
<b>Who:</b> Adam Peterson, Yoncalla High School senior.
<b>What:</b> Benefit dessert auction and sale to raise money for Adam’s medical and travel expenses. <b>When:</b> 7 p.m. March 7 <b>Where:</b> Yoncalla Elementary School gym <b>Additional information:</b> Donated desserts can be dropped off at the school cafeteria until 5 p.m. March 6 and March 7. Cash donations are accepted at the elementary and high schools and at the U.S. Bank in Drain under the name “Peterson Family Relief Fund.” For more information, call Angie at 45 |
“Adam’s been in such low places, we never thought we’d bring him home,” Melissa said. “But we still have him.”
Adam wanted the transplant to be done in time for him to walk across the stage with his graduating class in June, although he will still need another year to finish school because of all of the time he has spent in the hospital.
Now, Adam has no choice but to continue with life as it is. He will continue to take about 24 pills every day for various ailments. He will still be restricted to low levels of fluids. He will have strict dietary restrictions, largely limiting his sodium intake. And he will continue to drive to the Eugene/Springfield area, not to watch his favorite team, the Ducks, play basketball, but to receive dialysis treatments.
After Adam has his gallbladder removed, he will be added to a transplant list, his mother said. Because he has been on dialysis for more than a year, nurses expect that he will be given a higher priority on the list than other patients, she said. In the meantime, the only thing the family can do is wait.
“My little brother has never done anything wrong,” Melissa said. “ ... We wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but it’s frustrating when something happens to someone so sweet and who’s never done anything wrong. But Adam, he’d rather take all the pain than share it with anyone else.”
Withstanding pain is what has allowed Adam to keep playing basketball and what has kept him fighting, Robyn said.
“He pushed himself to get back to play ball,” she said. “He’d probably be in a wheelchair with oxygen if he hadn’t pushed himself so hard.”
And Adam intends to keep pushing. He has spoken with the school’s athletic director and is applying for a medical hardship so he can play basketball the final year he is in school.
Once the surgeries are over and the transplant is complete, there is only one thing Adam said he wants to do.
“Play basketball.”
• You can reach reporter Marissa Harshman at 957-4202 or by e-mail at mharshman@newsreview.info.
Adam wanted the transplant to be done in time for him to walk across the stage with his graduating class in June, although he will still need another year to finish school because of all of the time he has spent in the hospital.
Now, Adam has no choice but to continue with life as it is. He will continue to take about 24 pills every day for various ailments. He will still be restricted to low levels of fluids. He will have strict dietary restrictions, largely limiting his sodium intake. And he will continue to drive to the Eugene/Springfield area, not to watch his favorite team, the Ducks, play basketball, but to receive dialysis treatments.
After Adam has his gallbladder removed, he will be added to a transplant list, his mother said. Because he has been on dialysis for more than a year, nurses expect that he will be given a higher priority on the list than other patients, she said. In the meantime, the only thing the family can do is wait.
“My little brother has never done anything wrong,” Melissa said. “ ... We wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but it’s frustrating when something happens to someone so sweet and who’s never done anything wrong. But Adam, he’d rather take all the pain than share it with anyone else.”
Withstanding pain is what has allowed Adam to keep playing basketball and what has kept him fighting, Robyn said.
“He pushed himself to get back to play ball,” she said. “He’d probably be in a wheelchair with oxygen if he hadn’t pushed himself so hard.”
And Adam intends to keep pushing. He has spoken with the school’s athletic director and is applying for a medical hardship so he can play basketball the final year he is in school.
Once the surgeries are over and the transplant is complete, there is only one thing Adam said he wants to do.
“Play basketball.”
• You can reach reporter Marissa Harshman at 957-4202 or by e-mail at mharshman@newsreview.info.
