For immediate release: Feb. 28, 2006

GALVESTON, Texas — The tender age of 4 is no time for a child to be thrust into a life and death struggle. Then, 4-year olds seldom take a tumble off a fourth-story balcony and survive. Little Sherman Wells Jr. did, but not without consequences. The fall devastated both of his kidneys, leaving him dependent on hemodialysis to keep him alive.

Fast-forward four years to late August 2005. Sherman is 8 and living with his sisters and mother, Tonya Wickliff, in New Orleans. They are among the hundreds of thousands of residents driven from their homes by Hurricane Katrina. Because of his need for dialysis, Sherman traveled east to join his father, Sherman Wells Sr., in Florida, where a dialysis unit was available. Meanwhile, his mother and sisters landed in Houston to be near relatives.

Not long after arriving in Houston, Wickliff searched for a facility that offered pediatric dialysis. Unfortunately, Houston’s dialysis facilities were filled to capacity. However, a social worker she met contacted the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and learned that space was available in the pediatric dialysis unit at UTMB Children’s Hospital. Jeanene Trochesset, Jeanie Tinkle, Lee Ann Douglas and Noelle Hirst have been working with Sherman and his family from the beginning, with Dr. Alok Kalia the attending physician.

Tinkle, a nurse clinician in the unit, explained to Wickliff the services and care that UTMB could provide and called Sherman Wells Sr. in Florida to tell him the same thing. Sherman’s father agreed to have his son move to Houston.

Sherman began his treatment at UTMB the week after Thanksgiving. Soon after starting treatment, the dialysis and transplantation team began the process of putting Sherman on the renal transplant list.

The care that UTMB is providing Sherman and his family transcends the medical environment. For example, care managers have worked closely with the family and school services to develop an educational plan that includes tutoring at UTMB Children’s Hospital while he receives treatment. Over the Christmas holiday, Wickliff said, “I was in a rut.” Hospital staff recognized this and collected $130 and presents for Wickliff and each of her kids. “This was a total surprise,” Wickliff said. “I’ve never had this kind of experience before.”

Sherman’s medical needs weren’t limited to his failing kidneys. When he fell from the balcony four years ago, he fractured a thumb. It went untreated and didn’t heal. Consequently, it looks mangled and he has a “complex” about it, Wickliff said. Despite repeated attempts, Wickliff was unable to have the thumb repaired in New Orleans. Now, UTMB plastic surgeons are working with dialysis physicians to schedule a repair plan for the thumb.

Wickliff sings the praises of UTMB. “They don’t go the extra mile. They go the extra five to 10 miles.”
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
UTMB Media Hotline (409) 772-NEWS
John Koloen: (409) 772-8790 jskoloen@utmb.edu