The miracle at Stanford

I think this is the best day since May when we first found out Marty's kidneys were failing. We drove to Stanford a 475 mile round trip from our home. Our first choice was St.Vincent's in Long Beach since our family all lives in that area. We got a call from Stanford that we were referred there instead. We weren't happy but we were desperate to get the ball rolling on transplantation before he has to go on Dialysis.

We drove up Friday the 26th for a teaching session and he was definitely the healthiest in the room besides being one of the youngest people. He did some routine blood work, chest x-ray and ekg that day and we learned what this next appointment would entail. We had talked and decided I would be screened to be a donor for him first before the others who offered.

Today, the second trip to meet with the transplant team:

We were told to expect to be there all day. They put us in a little exam room and the team one by one came in to speak with us. First the coordinator took a health history and told him he is o+ blood type which means a 7 yr. wait for a deceased donor. Good news is I am also o+ blood type and that was encouraging. She asks him if he is interested in a kidney/ pancreas transplant as he is a type 1 diabetic. He says "Yes, that was our first choice but we were told the wait was much longer and we would rather go the living donor route." she proceeds to explain that our Dr. hear in Visalia has told us wrong and the wait time is actually shorter for K/P transplant. SHOCK and then pure elation!

We meet with the social worker next and she mainly calms my husbands fears about being able to continue working and keeping his job. He is a Police officer and has worked very hard to get there on top of being our sole provider. Plus being only 31 yrs old he needs to work and has been told this by many physicians. She assured him that he would only need to take FMLA leave and she has never heard of termination because of kidney failure. That was very helpful as he has been struggling with this. She asked if he was under any stress from anything...DUH, hello my kidneys are failing and I am 31 with two small children and a wife! Then she asked him what he did to cope with stress... He told her " I like to buy things" and I started laughing insanely because it is the truth. He loves TV's, Bass guitars and anything electronic..we aren't talking cheap.

The transplant Nephrologist comes in and speaks with us next and what she tells us makes me cry. She tells Marty the same thing he has been told all day. He is very healthy for being a type 1 diabetic and is a good candidate for transplantation. She also recommends a K/P transplant instead of Dialysis. His age and health are a big factor in this decision and work to his advantage. She then proceeds to tell us the bay area has a very low percentage of Type 1 diabetics and because the list is seperate the wait is only 1 yr or less for K/P tranplant. I being to feel like I will come unglued and burst at any moment...the elation is beyond measure. IT is a miracle!

They took a blood sample to measure his c-peptides to confirm that he is type 1 diabetic and then they will present his case to the transplant team next week. I was ruled out as a donor for now because apparently I am extremely obese on the BMI scale and this was sucky news for me. Since they are recommending K/P transplant anyways it didn't matter. K/P transplant organs only come from cadaver donors. That's a whole nother blog and discussion.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts today. We felt them and were lifted up by them.

Happy birthday Gramps

You are missed more and more each day. It hardly seems like two without you and I can still hear you singing this song:
http://www.tntrivia.com/mp3s/redwagon.wav

Fall around our house

It has been awhile since I have had the chance to sit down and blog. We have been so busy that I hardly sit down anymore.

School~ is going the best ever. Conner has made so much progress and is picking up the pace. While he still struggles it is far lesser occurrence than before. All the years of patiently waiting and re-teaching have paid off two fold. Elizabeth is extremely advanced and is learning on her brother's level. So we have two fourth graders in a lot of ways. I am able to teach them from the same curriculum and it is beneficial to both.

Bowling~ The kids started bowling in a league. Elizabeth is on a bumpers team with a three yr. old boy who is a doll. They are the number 1 team in the league right now and she is 1st in the standings for girls. Conner is bowling without bumpers and is making progress. It is a lot harder and he is holding his own. Marty has been bowling in a league again and now I have joined him. I am not good and really have a lot of respect for Conner who does better than me most days.

Sign language~ We are taking a sign language class this semester. It is a homeschool class taught by a lady from the deaf and hard of hearing center. Conner has wanted to learn sign since he has a deaf friend and we need to take the class alongside of him. He is really good at it since he is a visual learner. Elizabeth has picked it up quite well and I am muddling through. Those of you who know me well know that I am very uncoordinated and this takes coordination. It is a challenge!

Floors~ My dad surprised us a few weeks ago and put new floors in our living room and dining area. They are beautiful and we are enjoying them.

Marty~ He is doing well and still feeling good. He has been taking Procrit which has given him more energy these days. We are traveling to Stanford twice this month to learn more about transplantation. Everyone seems to think he is a good candidate and we hope to find success with a transplant. We have a positive outlook for the future and are just trying to live one day at a time.


Conner's haircut~ Marty took Conner to the Barber and asked for a crew cut. Whatever this ladies idea was it isn't a crew cut and he is all but bald. We keep kissing his head and telling him that he has less hair than when he was born. Later we found out she asked him if he liked it short and he told her yes. Poor guy!

Overall, we are happily busy and joyful around here in this house. Life is good :)

Here is the kids with our new floors and Conner with his haircut: