3 year anniversary of sorts...

Good or bad, on Conner's b-day I always remember an anniversary of sorts regarding Geoff's liver. 3 years ago (approximately) I was being induced @ 38 weeks pregnant "just in case" Geoff was headed into the hospital for his second liver transplant.

Although the transplant never happened, I will always remember that time in our lives. I/we are still very grateful for the miracle that my family witnessed.

It's hard to believe we entered that journey 3 years ago.....so much has happened since then. The Dunkle family is in a different place these days. A work-in-progress.

The Big H

And no, Geoff is not having a hysterectomy, but he is having his hernia fixed.

After all of the surgeries in the past couple of years this is something Geoff has put off for quite some time. It can no longer be put off because the thing is getting huge. He's actually quite excited. He continues to refer to it as a "free tummy tuck".

The surgery is scheduled for Dec. 21st and he will not be able to lift anything for 6 weeks. Sound familiar? Last year on Dec. 21st I was having a surgery too, where I couldn't lift anything for 6 weeks either. Let's just hope Geoff does not come out with the same results. We only need one pair in the family.

I'll be sure to post pictures of the before and after. :)

Happy 11 years you freakin' cat!

I'm tellin' ya, he's the cat with 9 lives.

Happy 11th Liversary Geoff!

He's never been healthier.

In honor of this day, I will have a drink for you. And I only say that because your transplant was not because of alcohol, but if it was then that would be really mean.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

He's like a cat with 9 lives

Go figure...almost 18 months later he is healthy. It's so unbelievable and we are so grateful. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the 47 bottles of wine I drank over the last 18 months. Or maybe it was these 2 things we call kids that played a part in it? Who the hell cares where it came from, right? He's healthy, happy, and deserves it.

If anyone wants to spend the night at the Dunkle Miracle house of love....c'mon over your room is ready.

I know we're kinda tappin' out on the miracles over here, but I'm pushin' for just one more. I would like to have a built-in skinny girl margarita machine just appear in the kitchen one day for me and all my peeps.

Here's to another miraculous 18 months.

Testing Day #2

I'll make this short and sweet....he's normal...at least health-wise :)

All of his liver biopsies looked normal, kidneys looked like they had improved, and blood flow to the liver looked MUCH better.

As always, we asked for some grand explanation. The response was the same sometimes this just happens...

He stays on the list because the doctors see no harm in it and it can always be his "safety net" just in case anything were to ever start to go wrong again.

So, here's to another 10 years!

10 year check-up

Today Geoff began his 2-day testing for his 10 year anniversary check-up at the hospital. Today was the more evasive day of the two. They made an incision in his neck (AHHHHHH!!!) to somehow end up with 4 liver samples.

Tomorrow he will receive preliminary test results from the biopsies along with bloodwork, an ultrasound, a kidney test, and a visit with the transplant team to hopefully discuss results.

Some thoughts I am having:

• Yeah for 10 years
• I wonder what my liver looks like
• Here we go again
• Those damn kidneys better cooperate
• The word jugular makes me ill
• I wonder if the doctors will have a better indication of the future
• I wonder if Geoff will show them a picture of the liver cake
• I wonder how many people make it to 10 years with a liver transplant

To be continued...

You are number....

75 on the list.....

yeah, not joking. They called Geoff the other day to give him a status update. Um, thanks. So he was at #1 and #2 FOREVER and was never transplanted and now #75. Good thing he's healthy right now otherwise we would be in a lot of trouble.

All is good

Geoff went in for the full work-up on Wednesday and everything looked GREAT! Blood work was perfect and his sonogram showed no strictures (aka no disease). The doctors were pretty cool and calm about the whole thing and just said "you look great". Again, no real explanation, no theories about the futures, no real protocals, etc. It's truly a day-to-day thing with those doctors. When it came to Geoff's medical I use to always only think BIG PICTURE, FUTURE but you really can't with these types of things. You never know what's around the corner. For right now, we're very happy with the results.

Drag Queen?

This is what happens when you leave mascara out.

Full Work-up

On Wednesday, July 29th (Ava's 4th birthday) Geoff will be headed down to Baylor Medical Center for the first time in months.

He is going in for blood work, sonogram, hernia consultation (it's enormous and I'm afraid it might start to attack me soon), and liver clinic.

Definitely a little apprehensive about the whole thing....I'm sure it will be fine, but there are always dark thoughts that loom in the back of my head.

Really?

It's been like 8 weeks since Geoff last had blood work. Kind of amazing. He told me the other day he was going to call and schedule it. He also told me that he knows when things just aren't "right". I use to never believe him when he said this, but now I kind of do.

Life is pretty good.

It's all good

Everyone is feelin' fine.

Blood test

Geoff had another set of labs drawn this week, he was feeling a little rundown.

A slight twinge of fear came through me. No need to worry though because the liver panel came back looking better than ever. The kidneys were slightly elevated...who knows about that one.

The Dunkles are looking forward to a FUN Summer....

Re-defining Normal

I've mentioned before how I've met wonderful people through this blog. Wives of PSCers, patients, pre-transplant, and post-transplant. One friend in particular is Jaime. Her family has been through it all. The list goes on. Lately she was been struggling with 'what is normal'? When people are going through a rough time (including Jaime) their whole perception on what is normal is greatly skewed.

Looking back, I can remember times last year when all I wanted to do was feel sorry for myself. Clearly, it was obvious to others too, because I would get phone calls, visits, and e-mails from people mentioning the "tone" of my blog posts. I'm not an idiot, I always knew that there were people with bigger issues than mine, sicker patients than Geoff, and worse stories, but at the time it didn't matter.

Everyone should be able to have an "I-need-to-be-selfish" moment. In all honesty, I probably had too many.

This is for you Jaime....you're more than entitled to these moments, even if your "moments" last a few days.

Thinking of you in Dallas.

No transplant for you

Seattle called Geoff today (well, not really Seattle, but you get the point) and said there was no need for him to come in for tests because after reviewing his most recent records they feel that a transplant is no longer recommended. Enter Twlight Zone music here....

They simply said "call us when you actually need a transplant". Um, okay.

Is Dallas just keeping us on the list just to show some sort of credibility or will he really need another transplant some day?

I feel like a drink is in order...for me.

Keep doing what you're doing

Geoff met with the hepatologist this morning and the doc was completely blown away at how great Geoff looked.

He commented on how good his eyes looked, stomach felt, etc. Geoff asked the doc about still being on the list and if it was really necessary. The doc explained that he still has a MELD score of 13. While that's not sick-sick, it's not normal either. So, Geoff will always remain on the list and until he gets sicker (oh, please no) he will remain at a 13.

Again, they encouraged him to continue the journey with Seattle. They feel like there is no harm in getting all of our ducks in a row knowing that everything can change in an instant. May as well be prepared.

Honestly, just hearing it from the doctors again "you look great" is such a terrific feeling. In some ways it's almost better than the whole childbirth thing. I mean that in the nicest way possible. I really do love my kids, but knowing that Geoff gets to be around to see them is even better.

Appt. time & Seattle is calling

Geoff has a couple of appts. on Thursday:

• Blood work
• Hepatologist

Geoff is scheduled at the end of the month to go to Seattle to be "evaluated", but with the 'good' news we figured Seattle would say "WTF no point in coming here". We were wrong. It looks as if they still want to evaluate him. They will confirm that sometime within the next week. I guess there's nothing wrong with a second opinion.

A new blog is born

I've been patiently waiting for this girl to create a design for my new blog. She is taking forever. I'll continue to wait, but here is the new blog in the meantime.

http://margaritasandmeltdowns.blogspot.com

Read it at your own risk, and if I talk about you...I'm sorry. Sort of.

Blood results Round #2

Kidneys are way elevated. 1.9. Normal range is about 1.2. Geoff usually runs around 1.6.

One liver number was slightly elevated and everything else looked pretty good.

No time to chat. I got some stomach bug 27 seconds after stepping off the plane last night.

Headed to Cali

The kids and I are headed to Cali tomorrow. Geoff is going on a business trip. A little sad that he won't be able to go with us, but there is a bit of a silver lining in all of this. To even be able to say "Geoff is going on a business trip"...is a little unreal. Clearly, this past year did not involve any trips, let alone business trips. It's nice to know he's healthy enough to get out and go.

See you when we return! And Geoff, go make some money!