Missy, Joy, and I spent our Spring Break in Phoenix, AZ at the Mayo Clinic. Missy was being tested so that she could be put on Mayo's liver transplant list. She endured lots of poking, prodding, questioning, and needle sticks. She did very well considering all that they put her through. This testing was a little more intense than her initial testing at Baylor a year and a half ago.
The team at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix communicates very well. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing. That is huge especially considering how many different people are involved with Missy's care. All of them think that Missy would be an excellent candidate for a live donor liver transplant. Her lung function has actually improved some since her last lung test. Her blood work also caused her MELD score to go down one point. That means her liver is doing better as well. We are told that with the alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, the MELD score often plateaus before rising. The bottom line is that she still needs a liver transplant, and she is healthy enough to get through the transplant well. The Mayo Clinic committee will meet on Wednesday to make a decision whether to list Missy or not.
After we get the call that Missy has been listed (yes, we are thinking very positively here), we will start providing donors. I will be the first one to contact the Mayo team. Some preliminary blood work will be done here. After that goes well (more positive thinking), I will travel out to Phoenix for my turn at intensive poking, prodding, etc. They will determine if I am healthy enough to endure the surgery and if I have a good liver for Missy. They will check blood flow, liver size, and other factors. My favorite part (here comes the sarcasm) will most likely be the liver biopsy. If they determine that I am a good match, then they will schedule the surgery. It could happen some time in May.
The transplant process should take around 5 weeks in Phoenix. Missy will spend about a week in the hospital and about 4 weeks recuperating and being observed. If I am the donor, I will spend a little less time in the hospital and about 2 weeks recuperating. We are hoping to get into some hospital housing for the recovery time. It is cheap and on the hospital grounds. It is available for transplant and cancer patients, but there is currently a waiting list.
We were able to relax some (Joy and I more so than Missy) on our trip. We saw "Mars Needs Moms" at an IMAX theater in 3D. The screen was amazing. It was almost a private viewing as we were the only ones in the theater until right as the previews were starting. We went to a Texas Rangers game on Wednesday night. I did learn a little bit about spring training baseball:
- If you don't have a name on your jersey (and most everybody else does), or your uniform number would work for a tight end, or the announcer doesn't notice that you're in the game for two innings, don't count on making the big league team.
- The Rangers didn't bring all of their music, sound effects, etc. to Spring Training with them. Spring Training games are very quiet (not necessarily a bad thing).
- It's a good idea to appease the veteran players (Hamilton, Andrus) by taking their gloves and hats to them if they are left on base at the end of the inning. It's also a good idea to take your own (Deeds) glove with you.
- Major League concessions are much better than those at Surprise Stadium.
- Cotton candy has a lot fewer calories than I thought it would.
- I wouldn't want to face the top of a healthy Rangers lineup. Beltre hits the ball VERY hard.
- Chuck Morgan, the Ballpark at Arlington announcer, is way underrated.
- Free parking is a really good thing.
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