Today we spent about 45 minutes with Dr. W the nephrologist. I think all in all there was some miss communication. Dr. W wasn't sure why we came to see him. After talking to us he said our Dr. in St. Joseph knows how to get to the transplant process. We told him that Dr. H referred us to him. Basically he said we didn't need to see him so he walked us over to the transplant unit. He was very nice and said if we had any questions to let him know.
Dr. Brown in St. Joe had sent all of Steve's information back in January, which we knew. We just hadn't heard anything and they said we would receive a packet in the mail which we never got. We talked with a case worker today and found out the person that was working his case has been sick out for a week and had also sent info to our insurance which prolonged everything. She gave us the packet of paper work and we brought it home today to start working on. They have to know everything family information, who his fourth cousin twice removed is, and the dog and cats name. Just kidding, we are glad to get the process started.
Now the down side, the doctor and the case worker both said with renal cell cancer the wait for transplant is 2 years. Bummer! They explained why. The drug that you have to take when getting a transplant can cause cancer to spread. So if any cancer reoccurred taking this would not be good. The doc said if the cancer was going to reoccur 90% of the time it would have done so with in a 2 year period, that is why the wait is 2 years.
So the next step is fill out the paper work get it back to KU, our next appointment with St. Joe is in 3 weeks we will talk more about dialysis with her and when she thinks we should start getting ready. KU and St. Joe both are pretty sure he will need dialysis before the 2 year wait is up.
For those of you who are impatient on finding out the news of today give me a break. I worked part of the day, went to KC for appointments all afternoon and got back 5 minutes before Blair's ballgame started. You know who you are. That is why I am doing this before I go to bed. You better stay up and read this. Just kidding. I hope this is keeping all of you informed. Keep the prayers coming I do think they are working. We both thank everyone for all the support. Now who out there has a kidney they want to donate, any takers?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm sure if Steve does exactly what the Dr. told him last week with dieting, etc., he won't be starting dialysis any time soon:) We were glad you made it back last night in time to see another Bluejay victory! Way to go Blair! I'm sure you don't want my rotten kidney but you can choose from the four other ones in this household:) Thanks for the update & you guys hang in there and we will continue to PRAY! Hugs and Kisses, Aunt Sashy
ReplyDelete