Wed. -- 8/15/O4
okay so i haven't updated with a long entry for a while because i've been extremely emotionally stressed, and still am. i could not write about what has been going on in my life because i would just end up hysterically crying. so this is where it starts...i guess. you can read it if you'd like. if you don't then that's cool too. i dont know how long it will be, so i'm LJ-cutting it to be polite.
when my dad was younger he was obese and decided to get a gastro bypass surgery to help him lose weight. it has helped him. however, at the time they did not know that this surgery affects a person's liver in the future. the liver basically starts to die at a certain amount of time. my dad started having weird symptoms during the last year. starting in october in 2OO3, he had 3 "episodes" where he would have "vericose veins" in his esophagus that would bleed. his amonia level would go up drastically causing him to shake and be pretty much delirious. he would slur his words and couldn't function normally. so after the third episode, the doctors at our hospital realized that it had to do with the liver and that the surgery he got in the 70s ultimately "kills" the liver. so then the doctors said that he would eventually have to receive a liver transplant. a liver transplant!!! that really hit my family hard. we were so angry with our family doctor for not noticing anything in his past visits. so then my parents did some research and found out that New York University is supposedly "number 1 in the country" for liver transplants. my parents made some visits to the hospital, took tests that would determine whether or not he could get on the waiting list for a liver in new york. my mom's insurance said they would cover the VERY expensive procedure. so after my dad took all his tests, nyu put him on the list. we all went to an orientation at the hospital one morning. they explained what a "meld score" was. a meld score is basically a number system that tells you how far along a person is along in their liver disease. 1-10 is very low and 30+ is extremely high. because of the fact that there not many livers at all in the new york area, a person has to wait until their meld score is very high and be very sick in order to be able to receive a liver transplant. my dads meld score was/is 11. knowing that i would have to watch my dad continue to get more sick was very devastating. they said that he could go 5 to 10 years before getting a transplant. then my cousin leslie volunteered to give my dad a part of her liver. the problem was, she has A+ blood type and my dad is O+. so then they came up with the option of a "swap." the liver regrows on its own after a certain amount of time. so therefore, my parents could find someone who also needs a liver and has someone who is willing to donate yet that person doesnt have a compatible blood type. the person who needs a liver has the A+ blood type so my cousin could give them part of her liver and the person who was the donor had O+ blood type and could be a donor to my dad. THEN my parents found out about the Mayo Clinic hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. they only had 6 people on the waiting list for O+ blood type. that is AMAZING. they scheduled an evaluation in time so that we would stay in Jacksonville one night on our way down to Sarasota, Florida. [where we go on vacation] the next morning they went to the hospital to get some tests done to see if he could qualify to be on the list. they came back with good news. the hospital was very nice, [much cleaner and nicer then NYU] and the doctors are very agressive. they told my dad that he should have had his vericose veins banded even after his FIRST bleeding episode..not the third one. they said that even though his meld score was low, you have to consider the fact that he has had 3 bleeding episodes. they said that a person who has had that, has a life expectancy of TWO years. TWO FUCKING YEARS. can you believe THAT? i was shocked. i'm so angry with nyu. they said he could live years without a transplant. fuckers. the doctors at the mayo clinic are nice and say that my dad would be a good candidate for a transplant and that they just have to finish up taking some tests and then the doctor will speak to the committee. he'll find out in early september whether or not he is on the list. the only inconvenience is that a person has to live 4 hrs maximum away from the hospital once they go on the list. this is because a liver only lives for a certain amount of time and they could get a liver at any time. therefore, he will have to drive down to florida and live with my aunt and cousin while waiting. they say that the average waiting time is 1.9 months. he will most likely go down to florida in late september...so he will be here to go to the yanks/bosox games at least. even though i think i'm being very selfish...he won't be in new jersey for my birthday and that hurts so badly. i know my birthday is gonna be horrible this year without him here. he wasn't here for my birthday last year cause he was on a business trip and it sucked...a birthday with my mom and sister who i cant stand most of the time will be ugh. i guess i'll have to just put a smile on my face and bare with it..the day he leaves for florida is going to be so horrible. i know i'm gonna cry. i freaken get tears in my eyes and my throat hurts even just typing about it. so that is pretty much where it leaves us now.when he gets called in for a liver, my mom will fly down to florida and live in an extended stay hotel until its done. then he will live in the hotel with her for a month until he is allowed to go home. living with my sister is going to be an experience considering i can't stand her most of the much time. i'm going to try and be out of the house as much as possible. we won't be able to go to the bahamas in december but we are going to try and reschedule in april for my spring break. so thats about it for now.
i'll update more when i get back from vacation. xoxo.