Andrew’s Story: Father Donates Kidney to Son Diagnosed with Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor

Father and son celebrate successful treatment at Texas Children’s Hospital

The first signs

When Andrew was eight years old, he started waking up in the middle of the night with stomach pains.

“He would come into our bedroom clutching his abdomen,” recalled Andrew’s father, David. After several nights of this, David and his wife, Kristi, decided to have Andrew’s symptoms evaluated.

At first, doctors couldn’t find the cause of Andrew’s pain: they checked him for lactose intolerance, nut allergies and acid reflux. Nothing seemed to help. It started happening more and more frequently — from one night a week, to several nights, to every day.

By December, Andrew was in nearly constant pain. Doctors sent him to Texas Children’s Hospital for extensive testing.

“We got the news that no parent wants to hear,” recalled David. “Andrew was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They found a tumor in his pancreas. The lymph nodes in his stomach were all cancerous. He was sitting with us, playing on my wife’s phone, when we found out. We knew he was watching us, so we tried to stay calm, to stay positive. But deep down we both felt devastated.”

The diagnosis: stage 4 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor

Andrew’s form of cancer — neuroendocrine — is rare in children, which made it difficult to diagnose and especially difficult to treat. Less than 2% of all cancers found in the pancreas each year are pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and the average age of diagnosis is 60 years old.

Despite how rare the disease is in children, Texas Children’s devised an innovative treatment plan. “Thankfully, Texas Children’s never gave up on Andrew,” said David. “We are so grateful. Clearly, they want the best for children, and they do whatever it takes to save them.”

Andrew was treated at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center — one of the largest and top-ranked pediatric cancer centers in the United States. The Center’s over 200 faculty and more than 1,000 employees have contributed to many of the now standard protocols for treating and curing pediatric cancer and blood disorders. These efforts have helped push the overall survival rate for childhood cancer from 20% when the Center first opened its doors, to over 80% today – a remarkable improvement.

The treatment

Through participating in clinical trials, Andrew underwent a variety of treatments, including chemotherapy, surgery and targeted radiation. 

“The radiation was particularly difficult because we had to follow a strict protocol of isolation,” said David. “It was a big, tough struggle for a lot of years.”

At one point, Andrew had more than 50 tumors in his liver. The pain was so severe that he would sometimes vomit and pass out. Pain management became a big part of his treatment.

In his community, families came together to support Andrew. They made t-shirts that said Andrew’s Army on them. At his elementary school, many students wore these shirts to class on Fridays to support Andrew and his recovery journey.

Although he became known as “the kid with cancer”, Andrew didn’t mind — he was fighting for his life.

Dialysis

Fortunately, against all odds, Andrew was winning the fight. After years of treatment, his cancer stabilized. While the treatment eradicated all but two of his tumors — a 92-percent reduction in tumor burden — it did serious damage to his kidneys, which then required dialysis.

“As difficult as cancer treatment was for Andrew, dialysis was even more disruptive,” said David. “It took almost a whole day, and he needed dialysis three days a week. There were times when he felt tired of it all, but Andrew always bounced back.”

To be a candidate for a kidney transplant, Andrew had to wait two years to make sure his cancer didn’t return. As soon as that happened, David didn’t hesitate to donate one of his kidneys to his son.

The transplant

On the morning of his son’s kidney transplant, David woke up early and drove himself to the hospital. The previous night, he and his family had checked Andrew into Texas Children’s Transplant Center, across the street from where David was set to undergo the adult procedure, and prayed together as a family.

“Everything went very well,” said David. “After the procedure, I walked across the sky bridge and stayed with Andrew in his room. We tried not to make each other laugh because it hurt our stitches, but I remember we couldn’t stop our laughing fits. We were both so happy.”

A bright future

It’s now been a year since Andrew’s kidney transplant, and David is happy to report that his son is doing very well. He is fifteen years-old, a member of the golf and soccer teams at his high school, and he is learning how to drive on weekends.

“He’s doing normal, healthy kid stuff,” as David puts it.

When asked what advice he would give to parents whose children are facing similar challenges, David mentioned his family’s faith. “Honestly, it’s hard for me to picture how people get through this without faith,” David says. “You have to take things one day at a time, trust in God’s plan and stay positive.”

“Andrew has already faced more obstacles than most. Despite this, his positive spirit has never wavered. This, as well as his family’s support and dedication, is truly inspirational,” said Dr. Dr. Rajkumar Venkatramani, Director of the Rare Tumors Program at Texas Children’s and Professor of Hematology-Oncology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Learn more about Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center.