Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Its for real people!!!

OK where do I begin. So today we got our first "back up" phone call to be a liver transplant recipient, from UCLA. What does that mean (asked my mom?)... Transplant 101 here we go. We had been informed at the beginning of this process that is very common to get 1-2 phone calls letting you know that you are the "back up recipient" for an organ that has become available. An organ became available this morning that was a match to Mark's blood type/tissue type/similar physical stature etc... but there was one candidate ahead of Mark on the UNOS list. So we were in "second position", stand by mode, back up, ...you get the drift. WOW what an eye opening experience today has been. When Mark called me, I was so completely surprised when he informed me that UCLA just called and he is a "back up". So as you can imagine we spent the rest of the day pacing around my office burning holes in the carpet---waiting, waiting, waiting. It was an opportunity to discuss are we really prepared for this, can you really ever be prepared and of course the last minute chats and discussions you have when one of you is about to possibly go in for major surgery, be totally "out of it" in ICU for a few days, in the hospital for 1-2 weeks and then recovering at home for a few months... AHHHHHH!!! We haven't heard back again from UCLA. No news is no news, and this process from when a viable organ is recovered until its transplanted can take from 8 - 24 hours. Lisa had a co-worker at her hospital say in some cases 2 days. Its now 10p, we are officially wiped out from today's events. As the hours slip by I am assuming that our chances are getting slimmer... but more so this means like wow this is all for real, ... we really are on The List and that yes this really will happen. Brace for impact, I am!!!!! And I have to say I felt so loved and supported by the network of friends and family who are riding this roller coaster with us today and everyday... love you all.