esewanews.com esewa news
Related Articles
When Meghann Adams learned that she was pregnant in early 2015, she was ecstatic. Starting a family with her husband, Chris, had not been easy, but she was carrying twins. They were to be named Delly and Aubrey.
The entire family delighted in preparing for their arrival. Adams’ mom, Jamie McNeil, made plans to retire and moved across the country to help care for them.
“It was the best feeling ever,” Adams, 35, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the family’s home near Atlanta.
Twenty weeks into her pregnancy, Adams had an anatomy scan, a key ultrasound in which the fetuses’ development is measured. The sonographer was upbeat and pointed out all the different parts of the girls. But when the doctor came in, the tone changed.
Although Aubrey appeared to be healthy and growing well, the ultrasound revealed cysts on one of Delly’s kidneys.
The Adamses were ushered in to meet with a genetic counselor. Stats and medical terms were bandied around. The diagnosis: multicystic dysplastic kidney, which is believed to affect one in 3,500 births. It occurs when the kidney is malformed and full of cysts and, as a result, can’t function. In most cases, children who have just one kidney live normal lives; the remaining kidney will take over and essentially do double duty. But in some cases, a kidney transplant might be necessary.
McNeil, the twins’ grandmother, wanted to be a donor, but there was no way to know if or when Delly might need a kidney.
“It was just really overwhelming and devastating,” Adams said. “We were on pins and needles for a while, just really unsure.”
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
French
Japanese
Korean
Nepali
Portuguese