From Honduras to NOLA: Angel gets lifesaving dialysis, kidney transplant at Manning Family Children’s
- Category: Patient Stories
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In recognition of World Kidney Day, we are highlighting the resilient story of Angel Valles and his battle with kidney disease treated at Manning Family Children's.
In June 2023 and in his native Honduras, Angel Valle, 13, was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease. Angel was such a healthy boy. He loved soccer and being with his friends. One day he went to the doctor for a well visit and then suddenly he was a patient with end-stage kidney disease. His grim prognosis was unbearable for his mother, Katherine Martinez.
“There was no warning. He felt fine. Our world turned upside down and nothing made any sense,” she said. However, there was one thing Martinez knew for certain: staying in Honduras was likely going to be a death sentence for Angel.
“The medical care just isn’t good enough there,” she said. “We needed to come to the United States.”
Determined to get a second opinion at Manning Family Children's, she made plans to get to New Orleans. “I wanted Angel to be close to the very best kidney doctors in the world,” said Martinez.
She brought her son to Children’s in August 2023, where Angel was evaluated by Caroline Straatmann, MD, a pediatric nephrologist. The second opinion that Martinez so desperately sought was lifesaving; Dr. Straatmann said Angel’s situation wasn’t hopeless, and she created a treatment plan which included dialysis three times a week.
“I want to thank Jared, Angel’s nurse practitioner in dialysis, for being so caring,” Martinez said. “He truly made Angel feel like everything was going to be OK. He was a true friend to him. Just an amazing nurse.”
The family now lives in Metairie near extended family and the children’s father visits from Honduras.
Pediatric dialysis at Manning Family Children’s
At Children’s, patients with acute or chronic kidney failure can receive hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Children’s is the only hospital in Louisiana that is accredited by The Joint Commission, and the hospital’s pediatric dialysis program is approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
In 2020, the 2,000 square foot Dialysis Center at Manning Family Children’s opened, providing children and adolescents with kidney failure lifesaving therapies. The center offers outpatient therapies including hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, as well as inpatient dialysis including continuous renal replacement therapy for the most critically ill patients with kidney failure.
Good communication is key to excellent health care
“Being from out of the country and not speaking any English, I didn’t know what to expect at the hospital,” Martinez said. “I am very appreciative of the entire hospital team from every nurse to every doctor and especially to the translators. We have been treated so fairly since we arrived.”
Yaira Demera, a certified medical interpreter, assisted with translation for Martinez's story. Demera has been a member of Children's in-house translation and interpretation team for over two years. The hospital has six Spanish interpreters and contracts additional services for other languages as needed, with Creole and Portuguese being the most requested.
“We even have American Sign Language translators,” Demera said. “At Children’s, communication is Priority No. 1. We believe it is definitely very important that our medical teams can establish great working relationships with patients and their families.”
Time for a kidney transplant
Following approximately one year of various medical treatments and chronic dialysis, Angel’s doctors determined he required a kidney transplant. Martinez found out she was a match for her son in August 2024 and plans were put in place to do the surgery.
Once again, Martinez found out her son was in the right place. The kidney transplant team at Children’s evaluates, transplants and manages follow-up care for patients like Angel. The hospital takes a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to transplant care bringing together a team of anesthesiologists, nephrologists, transplant surgeons, critical care specialists, infectious disease specialists, nurse practitioners, dieticians, social workers, psychologists, transplant nurses and coordinators and many other health care experts to provide coordinated care.
The program is a true collaboration between Children’s, the LSU Health New Orleans Department of Pediatrics and the Tulane Transplant Institute. The kidney and liver transplant programs at Children’s are approved providers for CMS and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
“It feels like everything happened really fast, but it has worked out,” Martinez said. “What really held us up is that we have faith. We knew God would give the doctors the wisdom to do what’s best for Angel.”
Angel received one of his mother’s kidneys in a surgery performed by transplant surgeon Kiara A. Tulla, MD, on Oct. 9, 2024. He was discharged nine days later – well on his way to recovery. Martinez said she was so focused on her son getting well that she didn’t think twice about donating her kidney and she also has been doing well post-op.
“I’m the happiest woman in the world,” Martinez said. “I am not feeling the pain of the surgery because I know my son will be OK. If someone would ask me what it was like to give an organ, I would say it was a beautiful thing.”
Martinez added that she and Angel are blessed because they have a close family and they have been surrounded by unconditional love and support through this journey.
He’s got his whole life ahead
Now, in a new country and speaking a new language (he learned English in school in Louisiana and even more so during his treatments at Children’s), Angel is doing well. He attends school virtually for now, awaiting word from his doctors that he can go back in person full time.
“All I know is that if we would have stayed in Honduras, Angel would not be here with me today,” Martinez said. “Angel’s energy and personality are back. It’s like he came back to life. No, he is actually like a brand new kid.”
Manning Family Children’s offers the largest pediatric kidney transplant program in Louisiana. Learn more about Children’s Nephrology program at:
