This morning I got a phone call from Baylor All Saints in Ft. Worth. The pretransplant coordinator told me that UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing, the umbrella organizations that regulates organ transplants in the US) has given me enough "points" as a prior kidney donor to expect a transplant within the next 6 months or maybe less. Their waiting time is usually 18-24 months, so this is a significant reduction in my wait time. She also told me that Baylor in Dallas will be calling me to tell me what my expected wait time will be for Dallas; although they are sister hospitals, their waiting times differ because they draw on different pools (geographic area) of donors.
Last week, after my conversation with UAMS about getting on the "active" list, I got in touch with my nephrologist. He agreed that it was time, and will be writing a letter to UAMS to that effect. I emailed Fadelle Powell (UAMS Pretransplant Coordinator) to tell her to move me to the active list. Fadelle said last week that once I'm active I could get transplanted very quickly, perhaps as soon as 3 months. So, it looks as if things are moving very quickly. At one point, we were told that most transplants happen around major holidays, because that's when there are more fatal accidents/domestic violence that results in the availability of organs suitable for donation. That being the case, in light of what I've been told about my wait time, I'm thinking it could happen as soon as Memorial Day (end of May) or possibly around the 4th of July.
I've started the process of being evaluated for transplant at Barnes hospital (Medical School for Washington University in St. Louis); my initial interview with them is scheduled for Monday, June 4. I had previously planned on attending a "reunion" of the API Production Waste Exemption Committee in Houston on June 4, but I will have to miss that meeting. It's too bad, because I was really looking forward to seeing Connie Ericson there. She offered to be tested as a donor, although it didn't work out.
I will go to the lab tomorrow, May 1, for a blood draw to send to UAMS. I will have to do blood draws (one for UAMS and one for Baylor) (and one for Barnes if I get listed there)) once a month until I get a transplant. They use the sample for tissue typing, and the blood has to be less than a month old. The blood draws are 7 vials for each hospital, and they have to be Fed Exd for next day delivery. I will have to stagger the blood draws so that I don't do more than one per week. Not sure I could stand to have 21 vials (7 per hospital) drawn at the same time.
I went to Phoenix this past weekend to meet up with Janet McKinnon at the Firesky Resort. She is contemplating divorcing her husband Peter, and needed a shoulder to cry on. I flew out of Tulsa through Houston, and I flew back into Tulsa through DFW. As I deplaned in Tulsa on the way back, my bag caught on the jetbridge and I fell on my left side. I was so sore last night, although I don't have large bruises. Since I didn't break anything, I refer to the fall as a "bone density test for dummies."
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