Liver Boy

Okay, I know Geoff doesn't appreciate the nickname "liver boy", but come on, it is pretty funny. Even his client last night was calling him that.

We went to liver clinic today. A successful clinic in my mind. The great Dr. S was wonderful, as usual. He basically said that in order for Geoff to get transplanted any quicker he would have to get sicker. This is no news to us. They have petitioned twice for additional points and we have been denied. They are going to try a 'phone poll', which is where the doctors actually have a conference call with the committee and a request/decision is made. I guess it's the step above the petition to the petition. Again, a pretty slim chance, but it just shows us how much they are fighting for Geoff.

We discussed our listing for Washington and he was very supportive. He flat out said, "It's human nature. I would be doing everything that I could if it was me".

So, with that said, we are moving forward. In the next two weeks we should know when our appt. is so that we can start booking flights, etc. (I KNOW! TWO WEEKS??? Everything is a process....).

Happy Halloween! The Dunkles are having a Halloween Open House tonight with 70 of our friends and neighbors. Crazy much?

Random

I was tagged by my friend Holly. So, now it is my turn to tell you 7 random facts about me. I'm sure this will be a fascinating read (way sarcastic).

1. I will NEVER wear a pair of high heels even though I would love to. Being 5'10 there is no way you would ever catch me in a pair, which is why I am a much better dresser in the Spring/Summer because flip-flops are my favorite.

2. I love WINE. Okay, not so random, but I had to throw it out there. I get my love of wine from my mom. Who's surprised (Betty is currently cringing at her laptop)?

3. Shopping is my second "career". The bargains continue to call my name on a weekly basis. I hunt, I find, I buy. Bargain shopping. That is why you will never find me on Oprah confessing to Geoff that we have $50,000 in credit card debt because I couldn't stay out of the Coach store. Think Dollar General.

4. I can pick up just about anything with my toes. I believe it's a true talent.

5. In High School, I probably had about 10 part-time jobs (all at different times, of course). The bagel shop, the flower shop, two dry cleaners, an Italian restaurant, and a few others that I can't quite remember. If they didn't give me the time off for something like a football game or cheerleading try-outs then I had to quit. Their loss.

6. I LOVE Mexican food. I could eat it all day, everyday. Sometimes I wonder if I was secretly born in Tijuana...maybe that's where it all began?

7. I believe that my birthday should be a national holiday. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated for at least a week or more whether you're turning 12 or 60, especially mine. So for everyone reading this don't forget my 30th is coming up (you have a year to start planning).

I am tagging:

Kayla

Brenda

Jaime

Dawn

Rhonda

Tracy

Lisa

Decisions

Okay, so Dr. Reyes called yesterday (my cell phone). It was sorta like either getting a call from God or the President of the United States...I've haven't decided yet. Well actually, now that I think about it I would say more like God because if George Bush called me I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have a hard time telling him what an idiot he was. Way off track....

So, Dr. Reyes basically asks "what can I do for you and your husband"? I explain the situation and he simply says that getting a second opinion isn't a bad idea and he thinks that they (UW) can help us. That our time would not be wasted coming out there for the initial evaluation. End call. All in all, Geoff and I felt good about the call. At least they weren't trying to stop us, right?

Fast forward to 7:00PM

Dr. Chinna Chinna (not real name, just can't pronounce it or spell it) calls Geoff. Again, very exciting to receive a call from one of these "Gods". He was very sympathic. Told Geoff that it was not a bad idea to try and go get listed at another region BUT to be very selective on where we go (making reference to the fact that he wouldn't just send Geoff to any transplant center). He also wanted us to make sure that the waiting time would really be signifactly less at UW. He gave us a couple of questions to ask the UW team (before we head out there). All very wise information. Geoff made sure to tell Dr. Chinna Chinna how much we are devoted to Baylor, reminded him that they saved his life, how grateful we are, that if possible he would marry Chinna Chinna (not really), etc. Hopefully the point was made that we didn't want Baylor to get the impression that we have given up on them.

We have a lot of decisions to make. Do we head out there? Take the risk? The appt. at UW could take weeks to get. We meet with the team here in Dallas tomorrow-I'm sure it will be discussed a little bit more.

To be continued...

I told her to pray

Update: You guys were supposed to think it was cute/funny, not make you cry. Note to self: bad joke.

Status

Fort Worth #3
Dallas #4

Still no call from Washington, but we were informed that one of the surgeons from Dallas spoke to the Chief of Transplantation at UW sometime yesterday.

Washington or Bust?

Geoff received an e-mail from his transplant coordinator this morning:

The surgeons discussed this (meaning Geoff's request from Friday) in their meeting this morning. Dr. Chinnakotla will be making the call to Washington. Hopefully he will get this done today.

So, I guess we have their blessing. Not sure what the next steps will be, but I assume flying to Washington will be one of them. Let's see how quickly the appts. get set-up.

Amen!

It's the weekend.

Our shock/anger/pity/feel-sorry for ourselves-attitude is over (almost). It's a new day.

Geoff wrote a letter on Friday to his transplant team requesting a referral to UW. We'll see what they say....

Denied

Denied the two points. Denied, denied, denied.

Currently #3 in Fort Worth and #4 in Dallas, which means absolute shit at this point.

Have a great day, I'm about to go drink mine.

Nada

Still haven't heard about the two points....the doctors are probably still on their fabulous vacations with their fabulous families. Not bitter, just sayin.

A peaceful moment

Status

#4 Fort Worth
#5 Dallas

CLEARLY, no change.

To be continued

Hopefully tomorrow we will find out Geoff's status on the list. He is back on the list, but we have not received word of the two additional points. Technically "they" have two weeks to respond to the request.

More to come.

Weekend Festivities

Neighborhood Fall/Halloween Festival

featuring:
Belinda Carlisle

Belinda didn't want to leave

Uncle Pete last weekend

I got it

I got the puke.

Hey, Karma! Bring it on.

Oh, that? Its just ringworm.

Oh, really? Just ringworm? Yep folks, that's what the kind doctor @ Acute Kids Care told us about Conner when I asked what that "dry patch" was on his leg.

Let me back up.


Conner decided to continue puking today, so I decided to pay a visit to the wonderful Acute Kids Care @ 7:30PM (by the way, I love that place). We get there and Conner (right on cue) pukes on the waiting room table. Oh, and even better there were flecks of blood in it. Nothing better than a fresh specimen. After a little poking and prodding, we all decided it was best Conner get an IV of fluids. The Dr. explained that the blood was because he had been puking so much. Fast forward an hour later-Conner's IV was complete, a dose of anti-nausea medicine had been given, and he was ready to go home.

And that is when I remembered the "dry patch". All I had to hear was the word "ringworm" and my focus was WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM? Apparently it's common and once he explained that it wasn't really "worms" I came back down to earth.

I'm excited. It's only Wed. What's Thursday going to bring? Maybe a little food poisoning? Athlete's foot?

Puke.

Both kids in self-induced puke comas. What else will this week bring?

What am I, an idiot?

I thought it was a sign.

Geoff inquired about his status and was informed that he is "in-activated" until this Friday's appt. when the dr. can officially release him.

Okay, okay BUT the reason for that is they are hoping that his hospitalization will help with the petitioning of the extra points, so this could work out to our benefit.

Maybe it will be a good sign come Friday.

A good sign?

I checked the UNOS reports this morning and it seems as if the numbers throughout the region have dropped pretty significantly. I think this may be a good sign.....

He's home

And he didn't even have to drive himself. Actually, his brother did. Pete (the brother) decided on Friday that he was going to fly in for a few days. This is the first time we have seen him in two years. It's been a really good time catching up. Ava already loves bossing him around..."Pete, come here. Pete, you can't get me. Pete, cheese and crackers" I'm beginning to think that she just likes saying the word "Pete".

Geoff is feeling better, but still tired. I can see it on his face. I told him I thought he looked yellow, he denied it.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that my mom decided to go out of town this weekend (Las Vegas). Whatever. So if you're reading this mom, I hope you know that I gave your dog away. You'll never find him.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I'm looking forward to a normal Sunday.

TGIF

I'm tired.

Geoff is doing a bit better today. His fever has gone down and he seems to be getting lots of sleep. I haven't spent much time down there, but when I am there I'm doing an excellent job of being a complete nag. Geoff eat. Geoff eat. Geoff eat. In a way, he's probably thanking God for letting him stay there a couple of days. Little does Geoff know when he returns home my nagging will only continue to get worst. Even the doctor said today, "Make sure you're eating well". I love it when the Dr. sees what I see.

I'm getting off track.

So late yesterday the head Kidney Dr. came in to speak to Geoff about his kidneys (duh, right)? He explained some of the "unknowns". Basically this tube that Geoff has had since January sucks the life out of him and everything inside of him. Because of the tube the body has a hard time receiving the nutrients, vitamins, etc. that it needs. Hence the crappy kidney function. His kidneys are not getting what they need, so they are putting themselves into overdrive. This will not stop until he receives the transplant. Will there be permanent damage? Who knows. On one hand this tube is a blessing on the another hand it's a silent killer.

Hopefully Geoff will be home tomorrow. We love the support. Thank-you.

Update #2

I spoke to Geoff late this afternoon. His fever has spiked to 102, it was pretty much expected.

The antibiotics should start to take effect very soon. I'm hoping that he will be home by Sat. His work has been phenomenal, as always.

Side note: My mom just discovered a mouse in Payton's dog food (in the garage). I really wish Geoff was home.

Update

Okay, doctors just completed their rounds here. First thing out of dr.'s mouth, "We need to get you transplanted". Yes doctor, we agree.

A letter will be submitted tomorrow petitioning the petition from the petition (for the additional points). He was very encouraging. We are hopeful.

He also said that Geoff's kidneys don't look that hot, but we will continue to move forward. Basically, an exception will be made for him. He'll be treated and sent back home to wait it out.

That's all I got.

He drove himself

to the hospital. We discussed the plan yesterday evening before bed. Geoff had not been feeling well and we were pretty certain that he would be going to the ER last night. At 11:00PM are predictions were correct, and he drove himself.

For a week now Geoff has been really tired, weak, and short of breath. We just kept waiting for a fever (usually the signal for infection), but it never came. Hence the reason we hadn't been to the ER earlier.

Anyhow, he was admitted last night due to very low Co2 levels (his was 8, I think normal is between 20-30). What causes low Co2 level you ask? The freakin kidneys. These damn kidneys. His creatinine is also 2.6 (no bueno). I swear I think they screwed up the diagnosis because his liver looked pretty good.

I'll be going down to the hospital this morning once I get Ava off to school. I will update as soon as I can. Docs should be making rounds sometime this morning as well.

Pray.

Happy Fall Y'all

One of the reasons I live in Texas.....so I can say Y'ALL as many times as I want!

Waiting

# of people waiting at each hospital in Geoff's blood group:

9 in Fort Worth (last check Geoff was #3)

11 in Dallas (last check Geoff was #5)

Psycho Suburbia

Something must be in the air or maybe it's the play groups, but suburbia is freaking out. Between the stock market, the elections, the cost of gas, and the babies cryin were all FREAKIN out.

Ladies, let's all take a breather and pull ourselves together. Were going to make it, we always do. Weren't you the least but curious when Walmart came out with their $2.99 bottle of wine? They were thinking about us. They knew we needed them.

One day at a time.

The Secret

Has anyone read this book? I'm intrigued by it. I will say that I have been visualizing....

Stats:

#3 in Fort Worth
#5 In Dallas