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On June 27, 2010 Jim's Magic Shop sponsored the Izzywalkeez at the Gift of Life Walk in downtown Chicago for the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. Please read Izzy's story:
My personal message:
Hey everyone,
It’s that time of year again, let the fundraising begin!!! Last year we raised $3500 and came in second place. I hope this year we can raise the same amount if not more. All the money raised goes directly to helping the kidney foundation offer free screening (the Kidney Mobile) and camps for kids with kidney disease.
By now many of you know everything that Izzy has gone through so I am not going to talk about all of that again! I'll just update you since the walk last year. I am so excited to let you all know that she has finally hit the 20pd mark that we have been working towards since she was born. We were all so excited when we found out. She’s still not on the charts but she’s growing! Ok, moving on...The next thing planned for Izzy was surgery but we wanted to hold off as long as we could but after some testing we learned that the Urinary Tract Infections she was getting was causing some damage to her kidney. She had surgery in October and we got the best news in January, the surgery was successful and she no longer has kidney reflux!!!!!!! It doesn’t mean that the kidney will last forever but it will help keep it healthy longer. We haven’t even done blood work since January, which is a HUGE step for me! I am very nervous but it has been getting much easier as time goes by. Her next appt is in June and she will have an ultrasound and blood work done to make sure everything is still going strong. Four weeks before last year’s walk Izzy broke her elbow jumping on the bed like a monkey! Well she somehow managed to break her collarbone in January!!!! Sometime during the summer she is going to have a bone density scan done because dialysis can weaken bones so they need to check hers since she seems to break them so easy. Our next obstacle is to overcome potty training! I know she is going to be 3 in August so this is something we will be starting soon. The doctors are worried that her sphincter muscle will not be strong enough to hold the bladder closed and if this is the case she will need to have a big surgery done to close it off and place a port in her bikini line. Putting a tube in the port a few times a day to drain it will be the only way she could empty her bladder. We feel confident that this won’t have to happen and since it is not reversible it will be a long time before we make a decision to have a port placed. She likes the potty and goes several times a week on it already but once her constipation is under control then we can really start pushing the potty training. She will be seeing a nutritionist soon on a monthly basis to help us out. So besides her constipation problems she is doing really well! She is in preschool and loves it. She receives speech therapy every week and now we can’t get her to stop talking! She is full of energy and very sassy! Her smile and laugh are contagious!
She’s are little miracle!
The last couple years have been rough but things are starting to look much better for her. Jeremy and I couldn’t have done it without all the support from our family and friends. Having everyone come together and join us for the walk means the world to us. I know the money raised doesn’t benefit Izzy directly but it benefits families just like us. Knowing that the NKF would be there for us if something happened is comforting.
So mark your calendars because on June 5th 2010 at 8pm we will be having our 2nd Annual fundraiser at Fischmans! Join us for some awesome raffle prizes and karaoke!!! We hope to see you there!
4780 N. Milwaukee Ave Chgo, IL 60630
Thank you so much for always being there for us!!!!
Jeremy, Lisa and Izzy
If you want to help raise money Please CLICK http://www.firstgiving.com/izabelle
August 20, 2010--First Christian Church in Effingham Illinois
What a great night and a great group of teens!!! We spent 6 hours making pizza, talking, and learning Magic!
Here are some pictures of the group having fun and learning the Professors Nightmare.
