To view images from Megan's Dream Trip Just click the movie above.

July 28, 2007: It all begins early, early!, tomorrow morning. At 4:45am a limo is coming to our home to pick us up and take us the Louisville International Airport bound for Disney World! Megan and the kids are fired up! We'll be taking tons of pictures of course, but I don't think we'll be able to update this page. So, we've set up a "mobile blog" that will allow us to post images from our camera phones in real time. You should be able to see updates several times a day (if you can stand it). To see the blog just click the link at top or go to The Hensley's Mobile Blog! See you there!

July 16, 2007: We're all sunburnt after a weekend that included boating on Patoka Lake (Indiana). We have rented a pontoon boat at least 5 times in the last several years as part of the kids summer activities. This trip turned out to be the best yet. While Megan had a great time she declined sliding down the slide (attached to the boat) because of the "seaweed, the fish and all the yucky stuff" in the lake. The image at left is Megan watching her siblings go down the slide (click image for larger picture). At right you see our "before" picture (before we set sail, that is). We never got an "after" picture, but we were all pretty motley looking at the end of the nearly 8 hours on the lake.

Megan continues to do well. The doctors are somewhat concerned about an elevated blood test. There's no need for alarm at this point, but the test is to determine if the disease has returned (or is currently 'active'). At this point, they're just continuing to monitor her closely and have kept us on frequent follow-ups with the kidney specialists. If anything changes, we'll post it here right away.

The count down for the Disney World trip continues. All the kids are VERY excited about this "Dream Vacation" of Megan's. Stay tuned for more updates.

May 28, 2007: Thank you to The Greater Louisville Dream Factory for the wonderful picnic for all the local "Dream Factory Kids" at SixFlags Kentucky Kingdom yesterday. And a Special thank you to Sandy Poole who has been helping us apply and get ready for Megan's dream: A Trip to Disney World! That's right! Megan's application was accepted by the Dream Factory and it looks like we'll be going to Disney World this summer! Megan is totally excited that she and her whole family gets to take a trip on a plane to sunny Florida! She keeps mentioning getting to meet Mickey Mouse especially. I have a feeling that just might happen. 
  But back to the Dream Factory Picnic at SixFlags. We were invited by Sandy for this picnic which included free admission to the park as well as food and drinks. It was just wonderful. I don't know who all those volunteers were who worked the Dream Factory Booth and the food area, but they are obviously wonderful folks. We just want to say thank you for all your hard work and love for these kids.
   As you can see by the picture, Buggs Bunny and Daffy came right up to Megan to say hello. There's a story there ... Daffy and Buggs came into the picnic area to say hi to all the Dream Factory Kids, but I just couldn't get Megan to stand by them for a picture. So, when our family sat down to eat, I went up to them and asked them to sneak up behind her. She couldn't believe it.  I still can't believe we're going to Disney World. The Dream Factory is a wonderful organization. From what I've learned from the website, www.dreamfactoryinc.com, The Dream Factory, Inc. "was founded in 1980 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, by Charles Henault, a South Central Bell employee, who wanted to create a volunteer organization dedicated to granting the dreams of children with critical or chronic illnesses." There are 30 chapters of the Dream Factory with over 5000 volunteers. As I mentioned, we are being helped by The Greater Louisville Dream Factory and were interviewed by Sandy Poole, one of the many people who make it happen around the Louisville and southern Indiana area. "The Dream Factory is a member of the Association of Wish Granting Organizations (AWGO), which has 20 members across the nation all serving the needs of children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses."
THANKS AGAIN to everyone who made it happen!

May 4, 2007: It's been one year since Megan's successful kidney transplant! We celebrated the day with rainbow cupcakes and cookies. Also to mark the day, Megan drew this lovely landscape! Her dad took it and put a Bible verse on it....both mom and dad have it on their destop at work. If you'd like a copy you can choose from one of the following links:
megansriver (very larger version - suitable for printing high quality)
megansriver1024X768 (medium - for desktop wallpaper)
megansriver800X600 (smaller - for destop wallpaper).
We hope you enjoy Megan's Art! Thank you to everyone who have ever prayed for or asked about this sweetheart!

January 28, 2007: Oh yes, it's been a long time since an update. Why?!  Because things have been going great! Really no bad news at all to report. Megan still goes for an exam once a month after her kidney transplant May of last year. And of course she continues to take lots of drugs to prevent rejection of her mom's kidney. Speaking of mom, Lynn has had no problems since giving Megan her kidney. 
    One of the best things is seeing Megan back to her old self. As her mom likes to say, "We've got our 'Bubbles' back. Megan runs and plays like any other normal 8 year old. The doctors really don't have any restrictions for her. We did have one scare at school recently, though. During gym, a little boy bowled Megan over. Just an accident. But Megan got really shook up. The school, Pleasant Ridge Elementary, really watches out for Megan since her transplant. They got right on the phone to me. Turns out all that happened was that she sprained her wrist a little. I really do appreciate that school. They've been so supportive of Megan and our situation.
    The drugs pictured here are what Megan has to take on a daily basis. They include Prograf, Cellcept, Prednisone, Bactrim, Prilosec (not pictured), and a magnesium supplement. So she throws down around 13 pills a day (about half in the morning the rest in the evening). A small price to pay to keep our little girl healthy.

See the Blog Archive for previous entries.

About Megan

Megan is a sweet girl who lives in southern Indiana, very near Louisville, Kentucky. She has a younger sister, Lauren, and two knuckle-headed brothers, Christian and Shane. She loves cats, Barbie, Hello Kitty and making art. She tells us she's going to be an artist when she grows up. All the little flowers and images on this site were drawn by Megan (can you tell she likes flowers?). Megan was recently diagnosed with  Microscopic Polyangiitis. She's a tough little girl and with the Lord's help, we know she will make it through this!

PHOTO BY PAM SPAULDING,  THE COURIER-JOURNAL

Megan is loved and cherished by her "momma", Lynn and her "daddy" Mike. She comes from a Christian family who unashamedly proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord and God. We trust our loving Father with Megan and this horrible condition. We know God didn't cause this to happen, but he will cause this to work together for good - because He loves us and we love Him!

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

Pictures

	NEW! Photos from Megan's Seventh Birthday Party at Toys R Us. February 12, 2005.
	Megan Hospital Slide Show - See images of Megan during her stay at Kosair Children's Hospital. January 10-17 2005.

Megan's Art
Megan is a prolific artist in crayons and poster paints. All the little images you'll find throughout this Web site were done by Megan. Her art gallery contains some of her works that usually end up on the refrigerator door and unfortunately used to make it to the trash can! But not any more!

GO TO THE ART GALLERY!

Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA)
There are approximately 20 different disorders that are classified as “vasculitis”. “Angiitis” and “Arteritis” are both synonyms for vasculitis, literally meaning “inflammation within blood vessels” or “inflammation in artreries”, respectively. There are many different types of diseases that belong to this category. Although the diseases are similar in some ways, they often differ with respect to which organs are affected, which medications are used to treat them, and other characteristics.
[reference: http://vasculitis.med.jhu.edu/typesof/typesof.html] 

MPA is a type of vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels). It is called a “systemic” vasculitis because it usually affects different areas throughout the body, not just one isolated area or organ. MPA is considered a “small-vessel vasculitide” because it primarily affect small and medium-sized blood vessels: capillaries, venules, and arterioles. The disease causes inflammation, bleeding, and scarring in these blood vessels, damaging organs like the lungs and kidneys, and sometimes also the skin, nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, eyes, and sinuses. The kidneys are the most commonly affected organ and are involved in 90% of MPA patients. 

MPA is similar to Wegener granulomatosis, and Churg-Strauss syndrome. - the treatment for these disorders follows similar protocols. These disorders are usually fatal if left untreated or if caught too late. MPA is very rare. There are less than four new cases of MPA for every million persons in the USA. The incidence world wide is 1:100,000.  Renal failure and pulmonary involvement are the major causes of morbidity and mortality. Treatment of patients with MPA consists of three phases: induction of remission, maintenance of remission, and treatment of relapse. Induction therapy often consists of cyclophosphamide (Cytoxin) and corticosteroids (Prednisone). 

MPA is an autoimmune disease. The exact cause is unclear, however it is not contagious nor is it related to AIDS. AIDS is an Acquired  Immune Deficiency Syndrome (not autoimmune) whereas in MPA the immune system is not deficient - in fact it is too strong and has started attacking tissues of the body. The confusion about a person with MPA being susceptible to illness or infection is due to the chemotherapy treatments. People with MPA are often treated with chemotherapy drugs to stop the immune system from attacking the body. It is the drugs that leave the person at risk for illness. The bottom line is that MPA cannot be passed on to anyone, and the person with MPA will need to stay away from the public only as long as the chemo keeps the immune system weak.

In Megan's case she has suffered complete renal failure. She was classified as having glomerulonephritis and chronic renal failure. Her kidney function was estimated at only 15% at diagnosis. Kidney function this low usually indicates the person has a poor prognosis - and this proved true in Megan's case. Megan was on home peritoneal dialysis from April 13, 2005 until May 4th, 2006. Thankfully, Megan's mom, Lynn was found to be a good match for donating a kidney and a successful transplant took place May 4th 2006.

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