Evidently there are a few of you out there that still want to know about the ongoing saga that is my health. Well, there is good and not so good news. Here’s the latest skinny.

When I last wrote about this saga I explained that the timeline we had hoped for was not going to be as quick as we wanted. Boy, did I understate that. Also, we were still hoping for a living liver transplant from my sister. Those two things were not to be. I was to find out that the only medical facility in the DFW area (where all my family support is) that did living liver transplants was Baylor. Guess who doesn’t accept my insurance? Yup, Baylor. So now I am working with Methodist Medical which is a very fine facility but doesn’t do living liver transplants. So it’s going to be a traditional liver transplant from a deceased donor for me.

I’ve been through a lot, and I mean A LOT, of additional testing in the last three months. There was one three day marathon that they called a transplant evaluation event that had me taking test upon test, talking with a therapist, and meeting with a financial counselor. It was exhausting but it also served to make me feel very well taken care of with full on attention to my condition. I got hooked up with a transplant coordinator and she is like my agent, representing my best interests to all involved. After the evaluation period my case went before a board that decides if you will be put on the transplant list. I was somewhat disappointed when my coordinator told me they didn’t put me on the list. I was shortly then relieved to learn it was only because they decided I needed another colonoscopy even though I had one a few years before. I got the camera shoved up in my butt this week and was glad to find out that all looked well and I will now be on the transplant list.

All that is good news, but here’s the rub. My doctor estimates it may take up to a year before a liver becomes available and after the transplant it will take a year of post-op care before I am ready to resume my normal life. What this means is that I am now stuck in Dallas for up to two years. I said in my last post about my health that I would not stay still. I’m going to have to backtrack on that unfortunately. If a viable liver come available, I have to be in the vicinity so I can get to the hospital on short notice. If one comes available and I can’t get there then I am de-listed and basically fucked. As you can imagine, this full-time RVer with an insatiable wanderlust is not at all happy about this. No choice though. It’s the price I have to pay to get better. It’s going to suck, but it is what it is.

For the last three months the LeeLander has been parked in my sister’s driveway. Well, that won’t do for two years, so next month we are moving to an RV park just five minutes away. It’s a really nice park and after hearing my story, the place cut us a really good deal on a long term stay. The one good thing to this is that I am around a lot of family and getting to visit with people I haven’t seen in years. I’m worried that this sitting still may trigger some depression I haven’t had to deal with in a long time, so I’ve joined a North Texas Hiking group which I hope will stave it off. It won’t be hiking in the mountains but it will have to do for now.

There’s the update. Hurry up and wait seems to be the phrase for the foreseeable days.

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