--- In SkunkworksAMA_at_yahoogroups.com, "Take a wild, friggin guess"
<a_change_of_plans_at_...> wrote:
>
> Well, so much for that. But I guess shit like this should be
> expected, so I'll just wait until the next call. :(
>
> I'd gotten a call from SLU at 10:15 last night, and was admittedly
> quite shocked that they had found a compatible donor so fast (I've
> been on the transplant list since October 16. That's only about three
> weeks!). I had to quickly get all my shit packed and prepped, and
> then make a few quick calls, say my goodbyes, and then get driven to
> the hospital, which is about 250 miles away. Needless to say, we did
> not obey the posted speed limits.
>
> Went into the emergency entrance and had to get the arm band and
> paperwork stuff taken care of. One tech brought me to a room where
> they took chest X-rays (I'm not sure what for, since they're replacing
> the kidneys and pancreas, but whatever). Then another tech drew what
> must've been half the fucking blood in my body, and set the vials up
> for additional tissue and sample matching.
>
> They did a few other things, and had brought me to a room where I
> would assume they would start actually prepping me for surgery (I was
> scheduled for an 8am surgery). Then the tech got a call, and the
> whole thing had to be called off.
>
> It seems the donor, while an excellent match for me, actually had a
> problem with his/her pancreas. The doc who had removed the donor's
> pancreas had stated it was not any good, and the surgery would have to
> be cancelled.
>
> So we drove all the way back home, where I promptly passed out and
> finally got some much needed sleep. The last technician I spoke to
> said this kind of thing happens sometimes; you never know how the
> donor's organs are going to be until you can actually get them out to
> look at them. I said it was no problem. There'll be another donor
> popping up sometime in the future, so I'll just have to wait.
>
> So there you go. I haven't read any messages yet, but I'm hoping no
> one freaked out or anything. I just wanted to make a quick post
> before leaving so folks would know why I wasn't online or anything.
>
> So...I guess it's back to business as usual now. But I will make
> sure I have a suitcase already packed up and ready to go so that next
> time, I won't have to run around like a maniac trying to get
> everything together. The whole thing caught me off-guard because I
> really did not expect a phone call that soon. I'd figured maybe
> sometime in March or something, but with this shit, I guess you never
> know. The usual waiting time, according to the letter I received
> about the transplant listing, is 18-24 months. That was what I was
> expecting, not 3 weeks.
>
> Hopefully, we can all settle back into the casual grind again. (I
> was a little ticked when I realized I wouldn't be able to draw the
> winning poll picture. Funny how technically unimportant stuff pops up
> like that).
>
> Now I need to play catch-up with the group messages and help slow
> everything back down again...
>
> --JMH, still in one piece.
>
I hope the next one isn't a false alarm, as it were.
Check Six,
DireWolf505.
Received on Wed Nov 07 2007 - 13:52:19 CST