Turning to the best
Jake McCarver
“You better be nice to your brothers and sister because you’re going to need a kidney someday,” Tara McCarver jokingly tells her 13-year-old son, Jake.
He takes the ribbing good-naturedly, as he has taken his entire experience with ANCA vasculitis, an autoimmune disease and the cause of his chronic kidney failure.
Last year, Jake had stomachaches and was feeling fatigued, even napping after school—unheard of for this energetic soccer player. Jake went to the doctor, but a misdiagnosis dismissed his symptoms and gave Jake and his parents the green light to take a trip they’d planned to Arizona.
While on the vacation, Jake was admitted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital after he experienced near total kidney failure. Jake’s dad, Chris, said the doctors told them the University of Minnesota was the best place for kidney treatment. “We lucked out,” he says.
After Jake was transferred to Minnesota—a leader in kidney research—he underwent more lab tests, more shots, more meds, and regular visits to pediatric nephrologist Lydia Najera, M.D. He was also put on a restrictive diet—one that’s tough even for adults to manage.
Najera’s goal: to control Jake’s primary disease, manage the chronic kidney disease that resulted from it, and get him back to his regular activities.
“Early on, she told us, ‘He’s a kid, and he’s going to be a kid,’” Chris says.
So far, so good. Jake runs track, serves on student council, and was just accepted to participate in a competitive space camp.
“I hope within the next year to wean Jake off the immune suppression,” says Najera. “This young man is remarkable. He’s a smart kid, a modest kid, a go-getter, and a fighter.”
