June 19th 2023 update

Happy belated Fathers Day!

May was a super busy month. All the McKnights were blessed to go on our first vacation in 5 years. We went to the Big Cedar Lodge in Branson MO where we attended the “wedding of the century”. My beautiful niece Presley Panteleon married her Prince Charming, Palmer Collins, overlooking Table Rock Lake in the Ozark mountains. To say it was a fairly tale wedding would be an understatement. Over 100 of their friends and family ascended on Big Cedar for 3 memorable nights filled with lots of love and laughter, dining and dancing, while watching a bride and groom beaming with joy and amazingly relaxed to begin their life long journey together. Congratulations Presley and Palmer! 

As a Dad, I learned long ago that there is nothing more precious in my life than to ‘journey together’ with the children that God placed in my life, Walker and Laura. I have read that to ‘journey together’ is to take your own experiences of life’s challenges and turn them into a gift of support and care for others around you. We are connected to those we journey with through life, those we love, in that no matter what happens along the way, we help them marshal through their challenges giving our strength, our know how, through patience and care until they overcome their circumstances no matter what those circumstances may be. Most all parents can relate to the depth of this willing tug on our life as we watch, often with bated breath, our kids grow on this most interesting big blue planet we live on.

It is with bated breathe that I share with you the latest news on Walkers Transplant Journey. In my last post, I shared with you how he has been fighting rejection issues that began in late January and continues today. He has been in and out of the hospital about every other week either in Orlando or Jacksonville. A couple of weeks back after a successful trip to the wedding in MO, Walker was admitted to Mayo Clinic for some anti-rejection procedures and one of his doctors, Dr. Narula, asked to speak with me. Dr. Narula explained that at this point, due to continuing rejection, Walker’s diagnosis is now considered chronic rejection which in his words is not a good diagnosis for anyone. It’s called CLAD (chronic lung allograft disfunction) in stage 3 and it means he has permanently lost over 50% of his lung function. And it also means that his time on this big blue planet is precious.

Of course, this was and is a jagged pill to swallow, his parents feel like we choke this pill down anew each day. I thank God for his illuminating, life giving scripture that acts as a lubricant to help us swallow that pill each day. Thankfully, We, all of his family, are open and honest at this point about the reality we face together. And together, We will marshal onward in faith knowing that no matter what our circumstances look like, God will use our challenges, our tragedies, to bring good to those who love him. And that no matter what “bad” things may come our way in this life, we can never be separated from the love of our Heavenly Father.

Our hope now is that this new treatment Walker is getting called photospherisis will arrest his rejection for the time being and give him more valuable time to enjoy his life. And knowing Walker, the tough warrior that he is, he will outperform any estimations the doctors project for him. In fact, I know this will be the case. We ask that you pray for peace for Walker and those that love him and pray for the success of these treatments to give him quality of life so we can get out to enjoy ourselves when possible. All of us are witness to the journey of a young man with an extraordinary strength of will to live, eye witness to countless medical miracles, and all done through an uncommon grace of character. 

Many thanks to those of you who contributed to Walkers account at the National Transplant Foundation. Every bit has helped us to manage the Un-manageable. And if you wish to contribute please visit 

https://donate.transplants.org/Walkermcknight.

We can not thank all of you who follow Walkers Journey enough for your love, your prayers, and your support. God bless you all

Love The McKnights