As the title says perfectly, we are waiting, patiently.
We have officially been listed for a little over a month but haven't received any calls yet. For educational purposes I will explain the waiting/ transplant process to the best of my ability(which is limited). Being listed means you get placed on a national list, UNOS, and all of your information is placed in this file. There is no order to this list, at least from what I understand. When an organ becomes available the powers that be go to this list and whoever is the highest match in all of the qualifying categories will get the organ. This means that if an organ is available in Conneticut and Jim is the closest match they will fly the organ here for him. With every organ two people will get called to the hospital. These two people are the ones that are the closest match to the organ. When you arrive they draw blood and do one last cross match between the organ tissue and the recipients' blood. It is possible that with this last crossmatch automatic rejection can occur, disqualifying the 1st recipient and thus moving onto the 2nd recipient and their crossmatch. This is why they always call two people to the hospital, in case the final crossmatch comes out positive (meaning rejection) for the 1st. We were told that you may be called to the hospital several times for this process before you will receive your organ.
During the entire pre-transplant process were were never really quoted a specific time period other than "it is much short than the kidney transplant waiting list." Apparently the wait time for just a kidney alone is 18-24 months and the pancreas kidney list is less than half of this wait time. Jim looked up the approximate wait time through Baylor's website and he found 4-6 months. I anticipate 6-9 months, but the shorter the better!!!!
Jim continues to feel better than we think he should which is a blessing! Our next nephrology appointment is in November and is quickly approaching. We hope that his labs for the appointment will show that his kidneys are holding and we can continue to push back dialysis. From what the nephrologist told us last time, we can hopefully keep pushing it off as long as he feels half way decent. He is still working 4 days a week at the hospital and although it is not the position he longs to hold for the future it is great experience and we are grateful he feels good enough to work.
The wine tasting was a huge success and we want to thank everyone who was able to attend or those who contributed online. We are TRULY BLESSED to have such a great support system of family and friends. We especially want to thank Betsy who went above and beyond the call of being a friend and organized a heart touching, support filled evening that we will never forget! Jim was embraced in love that night!
Prayer Requests: Jim continues to feel good. Jim will receive his transplant soon.
Bible Verse: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life...but seek his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you." Matthew 6: 25 & 33
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