It all started with a headache. 11-year-old Canyon Martin wasn’t acting like himself and was sent home from school with a headache, reported Standard Times. A quick doctor visit after revealed there was blood and protein in his urine, which wasn’t a good sign. Canyon’s mother, Ashley, took him to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth right away, and quickly learned what was wrong.
Canyon was diagnosed with an extreme end-stage renal disease (ESRD), or focal segmental glomerular sclerosis. Simply, his kidneys were failing. To learn more about focal segmental glomerular sclerosis, click here.
He was instantly put in the hospital and while doctors made strategies to handle the situation. The Martin family was shaken. While his father had a medical background, his mother had never heard of the disease, and nobody initially realized the journey ahead they would need to face head on. It wasn’t just going to be a one time treatment– this disease would have life-changing effects. This was a lot to swallow for the Martins when their boy was seemingly perfectly healthy his entire life.
The Martin’s quickly learned what needed to happen. He would need a kidney transplant, and that was the only way he could live a potentially normal life. Finding donors who are a perfect match isn’t easy. So the waiting game began, as the family did all they could to keep Canyon afloat and as comfortable as they could. His medication routine was intense, his diet was very restricted, and he had to remain on a dialysis machine for nine hours every night. He wasn’t allowed to be super active, and he learned he probably could never play sports again, even after successful surgery. Canyon expressed that luckily, he wasn’t a huge sports fan, but he would miss paintball the most.
The Martins buckled down and did everything they were told as they waited for the anticipated call. On December 4th, he was put on the transplant list and just three weeks after, they got the call. A potential donor, who turned out to be a perfect match. The surgery was a success and while the healing process would take several months of isolation, the Martins couldn’t be more grateful. It was a bittersweet moment for the family, who recognized that their son receiving a healthy kidney meant that another family had lost a loved one. They honored the bittersweet situation.
It was a lot of emotions around the holiday, but the best Christmas gift the Martin’s could ever receive.
