Janowicks Journey - New Liver, Who Dis?

The Power of a Strong Will Journal entry by Dan Janowick — 2 hours ago Determination, persistence, strength; all words to define the word will, and also the person Will. There are about 3,650,000 million kids born in the US each year, or give or take 10,000 a day. Of that, on average, just one of those kids will each day will be born with Biliary Atresia (BA), like Will. We have been a part of the "Liver Community" for a dozen years now. We've seen families with BA, and many other conditions, endure the life of pediatric chronic health conditions. We've witnessed the joy of triumph, unimaginable loss and everything in-between but above all else, we've seen kids and families display extraordinary strength. A will to fight, be courageous in the face of challenges, and do everything they can for their little one. From our perspective we've been lucky-not without internal bleeds, multiple endoscopic banding procedures, inconsolable itching, growth issues; but fortunate to be where we are with what we've got. We are now counting the time until transplant in hours, not years, or months, or weeks. Will has been listed on the UNOS transplant list since July (40% of kids spend more than a year on the waiting list, and 10% of infants/5% of older children never live to get a new liver). We waited to learn if Will was a candidate for a living donor and then went through the the process to see if I could be that donor, which I was able to do so. Like any parent, whatever it takes to help your child live and thrive. So that's where we today. We'll share updates here and are fortunate to have a support system working to help us navigate Will's surgery, my surgery, Amanda's ability to function through both of those, and helping Josh process all that and keep up with school etc. We know (because we've been told) that we are not great at asking for help but realize this time around we'll need it, and need it often. Thanks for being a part of Will's journey, we appreciate it very much.