The Elephant In The Room

   Hello, family. I know most of you are aware that Karen and I had to go to Westchester Hospital in NY today to finally attempt to add her name to the kidney transplant list.

     Shortly before we were to go on this journey,in fact mere minutes before we were leaving,the phone rang and it indeed was the coordinator at the transplant department in the hospital. Deep within my soul,I had an intuitive feeling of fear rushing through my body, because the one thing I was hoping wouldn’t be a factor in determining Karen’s fitness for a kidney was the reason for the phone call.

      The preparation for this day took almost an entire year. When Karen caught sepsis in April of 2023,she was told then that her kidney function was at 33 percent. That’s when we began seeing a Nephrologist. The plan was to try and control her chronic diabetes,which would hopefully halt her kidneys from any further damage. However,her kidney function decreased monthly,ever so slowly,until we were told transplant was the only option.

    Before I continue,I want to remind everyone this is a woman who never took a drag of a cigarette,had maybe five alcoholic drinks in her LIFETIME,and never,EVER took part in any illegal drug use. One of the reasons this has ravaged her is because of heredity,and,most importantly,years and years of insulin. The cure is almost worse than the disease itself. She also has other permanent conditions that stem from the diabetes. I’ve listed them in the first post on this blog. Karen is on over a dozen different medications,and I’m sure they’ve all combined to take their toll on her liver and kidneys,which leads me to the proverbial “elephant in the room”

      The reason for receiving the last second phone call was due to the fact that the transplant team,after asking for records from seven different specialists, didn’t want to see Karen today because they want an updated fibroscan on Karen’s liver before we go to them. The last time we were at her gastroenterologist,which was about 8 months ago,he came into the room after reading the results of her last fibroscan. He proceeded to tell us that Karen had passed the “Non Alcoholic Fatty liver Disease” phase into Full blown chirossis. Naturally,this was devastating news. However,he believed it wouldn’t prevent her from receiving a kidney transplant. Her nephrologist told us there was a possibility that she would have to have a double transplant,but hoped that the transplant team would see fit to approve her for a new kidney despite the liver issues.

       Deep down inside,as much as I prayed and hoped she wouldn’t have to be subjected to both transplants,I had a sinking feeling they would force this issue at some point. I’m not naive. I am fully aware that the odds of her not just receiving both organs,but surviving two different transplant operations and then being successful are probably low. However,I have consistently attempted to place these horrific fears in the back of my mind, because I can’t fathom a world in which I lose her. I physically needed to avoid thinking of it just to be able to stay as positive as I can regarding her dialysis treatments and our homelessness.It is  catastrophic enough to try and restrict how sad,depressed,and hopeless those feelings  break my soul.

     So this is where we’re at in this battle for Karen’s survival. She returns for dialysis tomorrow,and the liver scan will be done next week. We will be retrying the transplant team visit on the 21st. In the meantime,due to the hotel rent increase,and still not being able to fix and renew our car registration,we are once again in a impossible and stressful position. I don’t know how much more I can handle. Hopefully the money I spoke of last chapter will be available in the next 3 weeks. We need help now,even if it’s a loan. If anyone can help with anything, please go to the pinned tweet on my X profile,or go to the last chapter to see our  Cashapp, PayPal,and Venmo account names. We just need a little more to get through until we receive what’s rightfully ours. I’d be willing to pay it back if you can’t donate it. We are in desperate need at the moment.

I’m exhausted,I must try to sleep now.

We are grateful for all of you, family.

Brian