Sunday, March 20, 2011

Mayo Madness

NCAA basketball isn't the only source of madness this March. It's a good thing we don't make our living picking basketball games. Missy hasn't beaten me...yet. Her bracket is currently tied with mine.

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:
  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.
  4. Major League concessions are much better than those at Surprise Stadium.
  5. Cotton candy has a lot fewer calories than I thought it would.
  6. I wouldn't want to face the top of a healthy Rangers lineup. Beltre hits the ball VERY hard.
  7. Chuck Morgan, the Ballpark at Arlington announcer, is way underrated.
  8. Free parking is a really good thing.
It is nice to be making progress. Missy is looking forward eagerly to getting better. Some of her symptoms should be gone within 12 hours of the transplant. Please stay tuned for additional updates as the madness is just beginning!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

We're Off to See the Wizard...

Missy starts her series of tests and appointments tomorrow morning. It's going to be a long week, but we are looking forward to getting some answers. Please stay tuned for those answers as they are given to us.

We have enjoyed our stay in AZ so far. We traveled down to Tucson this afternoon to see some friends from when Missy was a youth pastor there. It's been about 8 years since we have seen many of them. It's amazing how the adults haven't changed that much, but the kids aren't recognizable. They are all growing up way too fast.

The Mayo Clinic in AZ looks very impressive from the outside. We'll see how it is from the inside tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

In the Beginning...

I'm finally getting around to posting on this blog. It's very easy to procrastinate when you have little free time. We are getting ready for our trip to Phoenix next week. It would be more accurate to say that we are getting ready for our trip to Phoenix to be over. We are eager...eager to get this process going and eventually done. There are honestly a few parts of this trip that I am looking forward to. I enjoyed Arizona when we lived there. We will get to see several Tucson friends on Sunday afternoon. We will also try to catch a Rangers spring training game. Joy is also excited about staying in a hotel again.

It will be good to make some progress and get some questions answered. At least that is our mantra. The week will be full of testing, prodding, scans, needle sticks and such. At the end of the week, we are hoping that Missy will be on the Mayo Clinic liver transplant list. After that, we hope to begin the donor screening process. We have no idea what all will be involved with that process. Hopefully, that will be quick and as painless (physically and emotionally) as possible. Then, soon we can actually get going with the actual transplant, healing, and getting back to "normal".

The more astute readers will notice that I used the word "hope" a lot. That is one of the things that we currently have in abundance along with faith, trust, encouragement and support. Is there any other way that we could get through all of this? God is faithful, and He will see us through this journey. Too often, we are like little kids...fidgeting in the back seat, continually asking, "Are we there yet?" How do people get through life's events without a sustaining faith and trust in God? There is no way that we could do that. We are so thankful for our God who gives us strength for each day and the most amazing friends and family to cheer us on. We could never adequately express our gratitude for all you have done for us.

Stay tuned for more information and insight as it becomes available.