Cain was born with kidney dysplasia, a condition where one or both of a baby’s kidneys don’t develop normally while they are growing in the womb. They discovered the kidney problem, thinking it was initially a blockage, when Cain’s mother, Dionne Fitch, 37, of Novi, was pregnant.
Fitch said during her pregnancy she and her fiancé, Clarence Hawkins – Cain’s father – were under the assumption that when Cain was born it would be a routine procedure of removing the blockage and everything would be fine.
“At the same time the chief pediatric urologists at Children’s Hospital were letting us know that a month after Cain was born he would go through a series of tests needed to make sure what exactly the blockage was,” said Fitch.
In succinct timing, a month after Cain was born, tests were performed and Fitch and Hawkins waited in great anticipation for the test results. Fitch said that she and Hawkins were taken back to the doctor’s office for the results and that’s when they were informed that Cain’s left kidney wasn’t functioning at all.
“There were no activity in it, and it basically was a foreign object in his body. It had stopped growing during my pregnancy, so the blockage they actually saw was basically the end of the kidney,” said Fitch. “We were in complete shock sitting there. That was never something that was told to us, but again, we didn’t know until he was born what actually we were dealing with.”
At 8-months-old they decided to have Cain’s undeveloped kidney surgically removed.
“Cain was crawling around the next day after the surgery like he hadn’t had any major surgery or anything,” said Fitch. “He healed fine with no issues, he’s healthy.
Cain is now 13 months old and very active.
Fitch said that participating in the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan’s walk and supporting the foundation has become a passionate commitment for her because it has made her very conscious of the need for Cain to live healthily for the rest of his life to protect his one remaining kidney. For that reason, she wanted to help raise money for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan. She gathered a group of her friends and family to take part in the kidney walk. Her team was called Cain’s Crew and was 27 people strong.
The kidney walk draws attention to the importance of early detection and kidney disease prevention, while raising funds in support of kidney patients and their families. According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 900,000 Michigan residents are living with chronic kidney disease and most don’t know it. Ninety cents of every dollar raised for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan goes back into programs to fight kidney disease in Michigan.
One special child, one big challenge
