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....