“It was all worth it.”
When Tristia Cosgrove of Jefferson Township was 11 years old, her mother brought her to the family pediatrician with flu-like symptoms. Tests revealed her kidneys were failing, a result of having been born with a malformed renal system. Tristia’s parents, Fred and Pat, were struck with fear. “It was brutal to hear that news — one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to take,” says Mr. Cosgrove.
Tristia immediately began hemodialysis and soon experienced numerous infections, missing a few hours of school two days each week, and spending Saturdays at the dialysis center. Her parents, along with the Saint Barnabas Pediatric Nephrology and Transplantation Team, began planning for a living donor kidney transplant that would release Tristia from the limitations dialysis imposed on her previously carefree childhood.
Five months after her diagnosis, Tristia and her father underwent surgery that transplanted Mr. Cosgrove’s kidney into his little girl. Despite rejections and complications, the Pediatric Transplant Team reversed the rejections, and Tristia rebounded with her family rallying around her.
At age 13, Tristia continues to maintain the donated kidney with no additional problems and eventually withdrew from the insulin injections she required to treat her diabetes. “It was all worth it,” says Mr. Cosgrove smiling at his daughter