A word from our sponsor

Not really, but I did get in touch with one of my "links" there in the right column. Ed has been living on the MELD/donation list for a few years. He has some really good insight that I have below.



FYI...regarding the "waiting period" I'm facing, it has to do with the
condition that brought on the liver damage in the first place. Essentially,
the bile ducts from the liver to the intestines were blocked for 10 years or
more, slowly killing the liver (very slowly, thus I had no symptoms as it
happened). Now that the docs have opened the ducts and have me on meds to
help regulate things (and I'm off alcohol, tylenol, and other things that
the liver doesn't really care for), things have stabilized.

The reason for waiting, beyond just the MELD score issue (I'm currently
hovering around 14), is that when the surgeons in Miami look at both overall
quality of life and total length of life, to do the surgery now might
decrease the quality (due to the drugs I'll be on afterward), but more
importantly they probably would be decreasing my total length of life. But
if we wait another 10 years, and then do the surgery, the amount of time I
gain "on the other side" would be greater than if I didn't do anything.

And then I don't know if you're a religious person or not, but I am, and
I've got a large group of people praying for a "miraculous recovery," with
the possibility that I'll never go through the surgery at all. And going
from "you'll need a transplant in 6 months" to "let's wait 5 to 10 years"
feels like a step in that direction.

[....] In the end, though, you're right...we need more donors. Period. I know too many people who need the surgery asap, and none of them deserve to wait any more than they already
have.

Thanks for your interest in this topic, and all your work!



The really interesting part is his diagnosis and prognosis. He had been given 6 months at first. Then through medicine and prayer, the doctors have suggested he wait for 5 to 10 years. How's that for amazing?