Ten-year–old Valeria Ramirez, of Brownsville, is thankful she received a life saving kidney transplant at Driscoll Children’s Hospital.
Ramirez began dialysis at Driscoll Children’s Valley Dialysis Center in McAllen when she was eight years old. Valeria was on dialysis for ten months while she waited for a new kidney. Valeria was nine years old when she underwent the kidney transplant surgery. For about a year after the transplant, she was in Corpus Christi receiving treatment.
Valeria said that dialysis was good but it could sometimes be challenging, especially when she got tired afterward.
Driscoll Children’s Hospital, like many other healthcare organizations nationwide, is celebrating March as National Kidney Month to raise awareness about kidney disease.
Driscoll Children’s Hospital Dialysis Center in Corpus Christi and Driscoll Children’s Valley Dialysis Center in McAllen are comprised of a multidisciplinary team including physicians who are board certified in pediatric nephrology, experienced dialysis nurses, a renal dietitian and a social worker.
.Valeria said the nurses at the dialysis center were very nice and cared a lot. Valeria said that Driscoll’s nurses and her favorite physician, Nephrologist Amy Becker, MD, helped her get through everything.
Valeria had a word of encouragement for other children who are currently waiting for a kidney: “I would tell them it’s going to be okay and there will be a kidney for them soon.”
Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi has long been the South Texas leader in pediatric kidney care, with nephrology services beginning in 1999, dialysis services beginning in 2004 and the first renal transplant in 2007.
