Ken's Hepatologist visit/still learning

[Guest guest]

Finally saw the Hepatologist yesterday (the Coordinator

had told us the wrong date – could we come back tomorrow?.....Ahhh no, it

took us 2 hours to get here today!

Her 2nd big mistake, is not making us feel very confident in

her abilities!) Anyway she got him

to come in and see Ken, doc said

Ken shouldn’t have any problems getting

listed – he’ll present his case tomorrow (Wednesday).

He also said he is “quite concerned” about

Ken’s varices (in his

chest). So he is going to talk to

the transplant surgeons and see if they agree - that Ken

should have a shunt put in his liver - now. (Don’t know if he actually meant

shunt or TIPS). Doc said if they

put in a shunt, the blood that now gets diverted, will go through the shunt

(and liver) instead of the varices – which means the varices in his chest

will die off. Doc said this was really

important, because when they do the transplant, they want all of the blood to

go through the new liver and not the varices. If they don’t put the shunt in,

they will have to spend a lot of time tying off the veins during surgery and

they don’t like keeping patients under longer then they have to. If everything is left the way it is now,

doc said the chances of the new liver failing (graft failure) would be high –

too high to risk. So we’ll

see what becomes of his talk with the surgeons.

So we learned - that varices outside of the esophagus are

less prone to bleed, because they are somewhat protected from the soft tissue

around them. But that they can and

will divert blood from the new liver after transplant, not a good thing.

Right now, Ken seems more interested in the catfish

tourney this weekend. Boy, I hope

he wins something!

Thanks for reading,

Barb in Texas

[Guest guest]

Barb -- thinking of you and Ken! Please let us know what happens with

the case presentation.

What kind of timeframe are you looking at with transplant?

Only positive thoughts going your way.

Diane C

[Guest guest]

Barb -- thinking of you and Ken! Please let us know what happens with

the case presentation.

What kind of timeframe are you looking at with transplant?

Only positive thoughts going your way.

Diane C

[Guest guest]

Barb -- sorry about da stupid question about timeframe of transplant.

Really meant to ask about timeframe of " listing. "

Diane C

[Guest guest]

Barb -- sorry about da stupid question about timeframe of transplant.

Really meant to ask about timeframe of " listing. "

Diane C

[Guest guest]

Barb -- sorry about da stupid question about timeframe of transplant.

Really meant to ask about timeframe of " listing. "

Diane C

[Guest guest]

-----Original Message----- Really

meant to ask about timeframe of " listing. "

Got an e-mail yesterday

from Ken’s

coordinator, they are presenting his case today! (Wednesday) She said she would call either late

afternoon today or tomorrow morning.

Currently there are 7 “AB”

people listed at Baylor.

3 are listed as inactive

1 with a MELD score <10

2 with a MELD score of

11-18 (this would be where they will place Ken)

1 with a MELD score of

19-24 (this

person was inactive, a few weeks ago, but something must have happened to

change that).

The problem with

having a rare blood type like Ken’s….is

that donors are even rarer, so it might be many, many months (years?) before he

gets a call.

But…..if he gets

listed, at least we will see there truly is a light at the end of the

tunnel.

How is Brad?

Barb in Texas

[Guest guest]

-----Original Message----- Really

meant to ask about timeframe of " listing. "

Got an e-mail yesterday

from Ken’s

coordinator, they are presenting his case today! (Wednesday) She said she would call either late

afternoon today or tomorrow morning.

Currently there are 7 “AB”

people listed at Baylor.

3 are listed as inactive

1 with a MELD score <10

2 with a MELD score of

11-18 (this would be where they will place Ken)

1 with a MELD score of

19-24 (this

person was inactive, a few weeks ago, but something must have happened to

change that).

The problem with

having a rare blood type like Ken’s….is

that donors are even rarer, so it might be many, many months (years?) before he

gets a call.

But…..if he gets

listed, at least we will see there truly is a light at the end of the

tunnel.

How is Brad?

Barb in Texas

[Guest guest]

-----Original Message----- Really

meant to ask about timeframe of " listing. "

Got an e-mail yesterday

from Ken’s

coordinator, they are presenting his case today! (Wednesday) She said she would call either late

afternoon today or tomorrow morning.

Currently there are 7 “AB”

people listed at Baylor.

3 are listed as inactive

1 with a MELD score <10

2 with a MELD score of

11-18 (this would be where they will place Ken)

1 with a MELD score of

19-24 (this

person was inactive, a few weeks ago, but something must have happened to

change that).

The problem with

having a rare blood type like Ken’s….is

that donors are even rarer, so it might be many, many months (years?) before he

gets a call.

But…..if he gets

listed, at least we will see there truly is a light at the end of the

tunnel.

How is Brad?

Barb in Texas

[Guest guest]

Barb,I am paying attention as Ken goes through this process as Bill is also an AB blood type.I have wondered how this would effect the process since it is a rare type. I thought I had seen that sometimes it can be an advantage as AB's can take from the different types.Is this not the case?Lee

[Guest guest]

Barb,I am paying attention as Ken goes through this process as Bill is also an AB blood type.I have wondered how this would effect the process since it is a rare type. I thought I had seen that sometimes it can be an advantage as AB's can take from the different types.Is this not the case?Lee