Children's Miracle Network

Ministry Saint Joseph's Children's Hospital

Miranda Rhode

Miranda Rhode

On July 5, 2007, John and Vicki Rhode of Rhinelander took their ten-year-old daughter, Miranda, to their local physician. She was retaining water and they soon discovered that she was leaking protein into her urine. She was quickly referred to Dr. Robert Haws, pediatric nephrologist at Marshfield Clinic on staff at Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.

Six days later a biopsy confirmed Miranda had Dense Deposit Disease also known as membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis,type I or simply, kidney disease. Dr. Haws reassured them that they had caught this at an early stage and Miranda’s water retention wasn’t as severe as seen in other cases. Still, anything that happens to your child is deeply frightening. This diagnosis would change the lives of her family in many ways.

Miranda was admitted to Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital so she could begin her medication treatment. She went from a child who took one multi-vitamin daily to a child taking nine different pills. Miranda was also restricted to a very low sodium diet for the first two months of her treatment. Her whole family participated in the diet to provide her with a strong support team. Miranda kept a record of what she ate and drank along with her medications. Her kidneys started moving toward remission, but it was learned that she had developed a blood complication along the way. Miranda had become anemic, a common consequence of reduced kidney function. She becomes quite pale and fatigued when her red blood cell count drops particularly low. She started on the medication Cellcept, an immunosuppressive drug, to hopefully improve her blood condition.

Despite all that her body was dealing with, it didn’t prevent Miranda from continuing to be an active and enthusiastic student. A large part of her ability to maintain her liveliness was because of her family’s unwavering support and solidarity; “Whatever happens to Miranda happens to all of us,” shares Vicki. “We have learned through our experiences that we are a family, not of four, but of one.” They pray regularly that her kidneys will go into remission and that Miranda can eventually stop the medications. She has lab work done every three months to determine the health of her kidneys and to assess whether her medications can be decreased.

Her family makes sure to note that the expertise of Dr. Haws, as well as the staff at Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and Marshfield Lakeland Center, all contributed to the optimistic state of Miranda’s health and spirit.

According to her mother, Miranda’s love of nature and things living comes out in everything she does. Today Miranda is in the sixth grade at Nativity of Our Lord School. She loves horses, cooking, swimming, science and math. She is very close to her brother, Sam.

As much as health issues can cause stress and strain on individuals and families, they can also be an opportunity to shine unconditional love and resolute support as in the case of Miranda and her family. And what more are miracles made of.

Patti Shafto-Carlson
Director of Development - Children's Services
cmn@ministryhealth.org