Old Drafts now Posted
I have reviewed and edited a number of older drafts that were incomplete and never posted. They have now been posted as follows: Looking Forward, a New Year - 1 January 2011 A Mother’s Decision to Give Life – 25 November 2010 Activation Milestone – 10 October Living Donors – 30 April 2010
Read MoreI am Alive and Back…
It has been nearly 15 months since I last posted regularly to this bog. The lack of posts was not due to a waining interest in the blog or the therapeutic value of self expression. Starting in May of 2010 I began to feel more and more the impact of my liver failure. One of the primary complications was hepatic encephalopathy, which is the worsening of brain function as a result of the liver's inability to remove toxic substances from the blood. Essentially my body was poisoning my mind.
Read MoreThe Miracle
As I write this post I feel that I need to pinch myself to make sure that I am not dreaming. Marshall received a new liver last night! This has been such a long journey and it almost seems like it can't be real. About 7:30 last night the nurse told us that the doctors had indicated they "might" have some news for us at 8:30. I had been told previously that they put things in motion once they get information that a transplant could happen but once the donor liver is examined they might not be able to proceed. They had already started prepping Marshall by giving him all sorts of IV fluids and blood. I just kept hoping and praying that the transplant would happen.
Read MoreThe LONG weekend
This weekend has been the Memorial Day weekend. We are still waiting to hear that an organ is available and Marshall continues to get worse each day. He had another seizure a few days ago and they have decided to do what they call continuous dialysis to see if it would help. Continuous dialysis runs all of the time and it is supposed to be easier on the kidneys than regular dialysis because the changes occur more gradually since its over a greater period of time. Marshall has been in the ICU so that they can better monitor him at this point. This morning we were told that they thought an organ might be available yesterday. I guess there was a gunfight between several young men in Minneapolis and two of them died. Unfortunately, when they got more...
Read MoreSeizures
Things have not been headed in the right direction these past few days. Yesterday Marshall started having some seizures. The doctors did a CT scan, an EEG on the brain and various other diagnostic tests but they have not been able to determine what is causing the seizures. I am worried that this is going to make him ineligible for the transplant. They wanted to do a spinal tap to see if there is infection in the spinal cord but because that is a risky procedure they have been trying to get his INR down so that his blood will clot better. All day yesterday they gave him plasma and platelets but they just can’t get things to a point that they can do the spinal tap. Most likely the seizures are being caused by the fact that his body is in such bad...
Read MoreMELD score maxed out
Marshall’s MELD score has been steadily going up and he is officially maxed out today at a 40. It has been an emotional few days as he is obviously getting very ill. I could hardly believe it earlier this week when the insurance company suddenly decided that they weren’t going to cover the transplant because Marshall had not met the weight loss requirements. Here we were are on the top of the list and at a maximum MELD score and the insurance refusing to pay for the transplant! This seemed like it was turning into our worst nightmare and I have been physically ill worrying about what will happen. Our surgeon had promised to call and talk to them and I got word yesterday that the insurance has again agreed to cover the transplant. You cannot...
Read MoreYou Can Give Life
One Man’s Story Trailer
The last 6 months of a two year journey to receive a liver transplant. Told in one minute of pictures and music.
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