I really haven't wrote much about Jack's transplant. It took place on June 24, 2008. I am so glad that this time is now behind us and now I think that I want to write about it before I forget too much about it. Jack was diagnosed with Kidney failure about 4 years ago. We were in California taking our kids to Disney land and visiting his sister Raquel.While we were there he got sick. He thought it was just the flu or thought he might just be run down. So we came home and he never really got better. Jack then started having pains in his (what he thought was his gal bladder.) He went our Doctor and the doc. ran a lot of tests. They decided to have an Ultra sound to check out what was going on. They found that his kidney's were unusually small. So more tests were ran and we were referred to a kidney specialist. (Nephrologist). I really did not like this doctor. Ok I did not like him at all. I felt that he did not have our best intrerests. We did faithfully see him for a few years. He did not do much for us. We then started looking for another kidney specialist. At this time there was not another option in Southern Utah. During this time we prayed a lot and tried to be patient. We were then going to travel to Utah county, or Salt Lake to see another Doctor, but a few things fell into place and we had heard of a doctor that had started a practice here in St. George. His name is Dr. Carlos Mercado. Our first visit with him was completely different than with our other doc. I understood so much more about what was going on inside Jack's kidneys. I know with out a doubt that our prayers were answered. Well after this visit, things did not look so great for Jack. He was going to need a kidney transplant and need one soon, or go on dialysis. That was an option that Jack nor Dr. Mercado wanted to have happen. This was in April. Jacks' two youngest brothers both immediatly vounlenteered to be tested to be a donor. They had to go through a lot of testing and all kinds of junk. Michael, the youngest, was a perfect match, and on June 24 they both went under the knife. Both surgery's went very well. Better than text book is what the surgeons told us. Michael was in the hospital for only 3 days and Jack was released after 5. Wow what a blessing. We had to stay in the area for 3 weeks after. We stayed in Pleasant Grove in my Grandma Page's home. (It is now my mom and dad's. my grandma died 10 years ago, but we still call it her home.) I had to drive Jack to the hospital 3 to 5 times a week for blood work and to go to " Clinic "that the transplant team held on Wednesdays. We were able to come home to Hurricane 2 weeks earlier than we thought that we were going to be able to. I am so thankful for all the prayers and help we had. My sister Cindy practicly moved into our house for 2 weeks and just took over. I am so grateful for her and everyone else that helped. Our kids were troopers. They were real tough and did a great job of helping each other out through this. Kerry and Joy live in P.G.(Pleasant Grove) and helped a lot also. It was great to have them close by. My mom and Dad were able to make the trip north and stayed for a while. Then they went back to Hurricane to help with the kids. Jack now is 3 month post surgery and doing great. He still gets blood drawn 2 times a week and talks to his doctor at least once a week. I think they are becoming best friends. All of his blood work is looking great. I know that our prayers were answered and this has now made us stronger as a family. I do hope that this kidney will last for a long time, so we don't have to go through this again.