Jim update

[Guest guest]

Interestingly, despite USC’s persistent

belief that Jim’s PSC could be on its way back (not to mention their even

greater, frustrating refusal to even contemplate my suggestion Jim actually has

fatty liver, not recurrent PSC… a suggestion I’m stubbornly cling

to anyway, & an idea USC only very recently seems to be considering), Jim’s

labs of July 17 were in stark contrast – in a “good” way –

to his prior labs in June.

“Significantly improved…

nearly normal” the transplant coordinator tells me (which prompts me to

wonder how that can possibly be, if the PSC is back? Call it my own

denial of sorts, sure, but I prefer giving credit to Jim’s recent

exercise regimen, some decent weight loss, Mount Whitney conditioning –

Jim did, after all, just return from a Mt. Whitney climb, albeit cut unexpectedly

way short, due to one of his out-of-shape brothers falling ill (exhaustion,

vomiting); Jim already made it to the top a couple years back, so Jim, good man

that he is, did the “boy scout thing” & took care of his

brother, helping/accompanying him back home, while the rest of the group

continued onward & upward).

At my suggestion, yesterday morning, Jim

repeated his labs, so we’re crossing our fingers these freshest lab results

(which will reflect his trek up Mt. Whitney) will be as good or even better –

which could, in turn, support Jim’s & my position (yes, he’s

come ‘round to my way of thinking, folks) that if this also casts

suspicions about fatty liver, then surely, he can just continue his exercising,

keep eating right, watch his labs closely, & thereby avoid any need for a

liver biopsy at this time? To that end, we’re scheduled to go to USC

clinic this Friday, bright ‘n’ early, prior to hitting the road for

an enjoyable weekend w/the grandsons… while I had loads of time with

Stryder & Indiana while I was out in AZ helping Jillian & , Jim by

comparison is positively craving those cute lil boys. :-)

We have the biopsy appointment set for

August 17th, and hopefully, this Friday, after the clinic visit, I’ll be instructed

by the USC hepatologist to call & cancel? If not, & should the

worst happen (a dxd return of PSC), then… we’ll just have to suck

it up, stand tall, and deal with it, same as we’ve taken on everything

else hurled our way, pre and post-transplant. Hey, the down ‘n’

dirty of all this is: you do what you gotta do, like it or not, and in the

process, you try to embrace as best an attitude as you possibly can.

Right?

On another note, Jim’s colitis is back

to being very ugly again, with a capital UGH. Coinkidinkily, work just

sucks right now, & weirdly (or not so weirdly), whenever work’s been

tough, Jim’s body reacts with full gale force. Jim admits to hiding

this recent development, but came out of the “colon closet” long

enough to ask me to please call his doctor. I’ve also succeeded in,

finally, at long last, getting Jim on board with a very good, local, male,

Primary Care Physician with experience in skin cancers – folks, given “Jim’s

criteria” I had to follow, this is nothing short of a miracle (if you

knew Jim, you’d understand what I’m saying!) I’m so

relieved at this; Jim’s brother was just dxd w/prostate cancer… and

I cannot recall the last time Jim had a full physical (with the exception of

his first transplant evaluation back in 2000, that is). Today I must work

on securing him an appt for yet another colonoscopy. It seems like only

yesterday that he had his previous, ugly colitis flare (and previous

colonoscopy, and previous steroid taper).

Off topic (but to end on a happy note),

something amazing happened this past weekend: daughter Rose & SIL

came down to visit. overheard me mumble something to Jim as to how

I’d cleaned around his desk, & everywhere else in the room, but

couldn’t tackle his paper piles (messes?) atop his desk… when she

heard her dad respond “uh, yeah, I’ll get to that,” she took

it upon herself to surprise us & do it “for” him/us. In

that process, she “unearthed” nearly a quarter-million miles Jim

had accrued up with some airline. Just as was the case back in 2001, when

Jim was sitting on 1000s of dollars worth of travel certificates, Jim was

sitting on these miles, too. But seeing as how &

recently asked us to accompany them on their vacation to Ireland, this

means Jim & I now get to fly over there 1st class!!! (Lordy, I’ve

never flown 1st class anywhere in my entire life). It seemed

only fitting to share this windfall with the 2 of them – after all, they were

instrumental in discovering it, & they also provided us with much-appreciated

help in renewing our passports – so they were surprised & immensely

blessed to have their fares significantly reduced. This is all a

wonderful turn of events, since Jim & I can’t really afford the trip

(but we’re going, anyway!) Just yesterday, a wonderful woman down at

Irish Outreach in Old Town San Diego assisted me with the last leg of my Irish

passport quest, so that (as well as my American passport renewal), miracle of

miracles, finally got mailed off. O’Brien, if you happen to be

reading this, are you up for another wee visit, somewhere along the lines of October

22-23… or Nov 2-3? If you’re scheduled to sing somewhere, we’d

all love to come & hear you! ;-)

With much love to the group (and if you’ve

read this far, thanks!),

Maureen (wife of Jim, age

52-skidoo, UC '84, PSC '96, LRLTx # 36 @ USC in Los Angeles, California,

12/7/01, thanks to our son; donor doing great; Jim has post-tx skin

cancer/melanoma, colon et. al. issues, but we deal w/'em as each one comes);

happy empty-nesters & delighted grandparents of Stryder *AND* Indiana

(Jim finally gets a namesake, woo hoo!). All in all, life’s good,

& we can't think of a better reason for transplantation than… the

bliss of Jim enjoying his grandbabies!