You may be wondering how Jake landed himself on a web page?  Or maybe you are wondering, “who in the world IS this Jake person?”  I think I can shed some light on these questions. 

Jacob John Erbst was born on August 10th, 1987.  He came into the world a handsome little 6 lb. 13 oz. baby boy.  He looked, for all intents and purposes, to be a healthy infant.  However, the next morning the nurses at St. Joseph’s Hospital newborn nursery were concerned because Jake had not wet a diaper yet.  An ultrasound was performed which showed that both of his kidneys had developed cysts because his ureters were obstructed at the point where they connected to the kidney.  The doctors inserted nephrostomy tubes in both kidneys, but only the right kidney proved viable.  When Jake was just 10 days old, the left kidney was surgically removed and the right kidney was repaired by reattaching the ureter to it. 

Jake stayed in the hospital for three months due to complications after surgery.  Once he finally got home, he grew strong and did very well for thirteen years.

A few days before his 13th birthday, Jake complained of a sore throat and was found to have Strep throat.  We had taken him to Marshfield Clinic Urgent Care on that Sunday morning expecting to get the usual antibiotic treatment and then a few days of keeping him away from friends.  What ACTUALLY happened was a three-day stay in the hospital and many, many tests, many more tears and fears and the news that Jake would need to be sent to the University of Minnesota to be worked up for a kidney transplant. 

For the next three years as Jake waited for his kidney donor to be found, Jake remained amazingly “healthy” for someone with horrible kidney function.  He played high-school football right up until the day before his transplant.  In fact the day he received his transplant was his teams Sectional Championship game – and they dedicated the game ball to him!  His first transplant was performed on October 21st, 2004.  His team won and went to State Championship that year, just three weeks after his transplant, Jake stood alongside his team mates on the sidelines at the State Football game in Madison, WI.

Jake received his kidney from a deceased donor.  We don’t know the donor or their family, but we are so incredibly grateful for this gift.  As we sat watching Jake recover from his surgery, we were moved to tears on so many late nights grieving for the family who lost their loved one, but celebrating their desire for a part of that person to live on in our son.

Jake had a hard time with the new kidney.  There were some issues with one of the arteries during the transplant surgery and then he had a couple of rejection episodes.  The most troublesome problem, however, was the transplanted kidney’s ureter became stenotic (pinched off), and caused the kidney to not allow urine to pass to the bladder.  This went on for about 15 months, until the doctors agreed to use his native kidney’s ureter to provide the plumbing from the transplanted kidney to the bladder.  This meant another major surgery.  Jake was in surgery for 7 hours that day as his surgeon removed his native kidney, reattached the ureter to the transplanted kidney and bladder. 

This was the beginning of a great improvement in Jake’s health.  Once he healed from this surgery, his life became virtually “normal”.  He graduated from High School, went back to work, started college and enjoyed freedom from weekly blood work.  We actually stopped holding our breath every time Jake had lab work drawn. 

So now you may be wondering, “If he is doing so well, why are you hosting a website for him?”

Chapter Two began this past summer when we were surprised by a sudden increase in Jake’s blood creatinine level (this is the chemical in the body that is monitored closely during kidney failure).  Jake’s nephrologist was concerned and ran several tests, including a biopsy of his transplanted kidney which showed that the kidney was dying.  There was no treatment possible to prevent it.  We could only hope that it would be a slow process.  Unfortunately, the kidney failure proceeded very quickly and by August 2008 Jake was at a critical point where he needed to begin Hemodialysis to survive.  Jake was unable to work and had to take a medical leave of absence from college.

The failing kidney caused Jake to become very anemic, extremely hypertensive (even though he was on 3 – 4 high blood pressure medications at one time), and nauseated most of the time.  Hemodialysis was not giving him relief from these symptoms.  We began the process of getting on the transplant list again.  During the transplant interview, the surgeon strongly recommended having the transplanted kidney removed completely, since it was the cause of the symptoms.  They impressed on us the urgency to have this done quickly.  Jake had this surgery done the day before Thanksgiving in 2008.  The surgery went well and Jake was released to come home on Thanksgiving Day!   Within one month, his anemia was much improved, he was off almost all of his blood pressure medicine and he was feeling so much stronger.  He was able to eat without being ill and gained back some healthy weight, 

Jake is now waiting for another transplant.  He has no kidneys, which he sometimes “boasts” about.  He is managing his daily home dialysis treatments fairly well.

Lest you think Jake is simply a Hemodialysis Patient, let me tell you a little about Jake the person.

Jake has a real passion for playing and owning guitars.  He has had a number of different guitars; acoustic, electric and even has a mandolin. He took guitar lessons for a couple of months and since then has learned more by studying other guitar players both in magazines and live and on the internet.  He’s gotten amazingly good!  Jake uses his talents to provide electric guitar for our church’s Worship Team.  It’s such a treat to see him serving God in this way.  It’s interesting that his girl friend is also a guitar player.  Emily plays a “mean” electric bass.  They often play together on Sunday mornings at Faith Fellowship in Marshfield.  Jake has also played with several Youth Worship bands in Marshfield. 

Jake has helped lead the Youth Group at Faith Fellowship through the past couple of years, as his health allowed.  His own years in the youth group played a large role in developing his character and love and dependence on God.  These roots have helped him to cope with these past few difficult years.

Jake is a 21 year old who enjoys video gaming, hanging out with his girl friend and several good buddies.  He likes to spend time watching Ultimate Fighting on TV and movies.  Jake’s just finished his Associates Degree at our University of Wisconsin campus in Marshfield.  Next year he desires to attend the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.  His goal is to become a High School History Teacher. 

Jake is a fabulous uncle to his niece, Abigail and nephew, Tyler.  Abby is six years old and Tyler is two years old.  They live about ten miles away so we get to see them quite often.  They love their Uncle Jake.   
Check out their pictures under the Home tab, Staff link.  They are the two adorable kids on the Board of Directors!  Their mom, Andrea, is Jake’s big sister.  They get along just great. 

Jake is also an employee at our local Culver’s restaurant in Marshfield.  He makes a pretty tasty “Butter Burger”.  He has worked there for 5 ½ years.  Culver’s has been very supportive of Jake through his illness.  They have been incredibly sympathetic when Jake has needed extended time off.  This May, they had a fund-raiser for him, promoting the need for his finding a living kidney donor and raising funds for future medical expenses.  His manager, Chris and the owners have shown tremendous dedication to Jake and we are so moved by their efforts and the amount of time they have contributed to help Jake.