I Never Imagined it was This Close! Weeks? Months?

About 10:00 a.m. Monday, Mayo's Organ Procurement Coordinator called to ask me if I was interested in traveling to Mayo - right away - for further blood tests to back-up a primary kidney transplant recipient later today!!! C.J and I were literally stunned, I felt butterflies in my stomach. Believing that I was 10th on the list, we had assumed that it would be several months - maybe January or February before I was called.

After some discussion with both C.J. and the Organ Procurement Coordinator and learning that there was only a 10% chance that I would be transplanted today, and being in no immediate distress, I went with my "gut" feelings declined the offer.

On the other hand, I now realize that - having been called as a back-up - I'm almost certainly close to the top of the transplant list for my blood type (A) and its most likely only a matter of weeks or maybe a couple of months before I receive "the call".

It's both exiting and frightening. After all, I'm not on dialysis, but my renal functioning is now down to 14% and it could drop to the "magic" 10% (and dialysis) precipitously. Preemptive transplants (before dialysis) are more successful, statistically. I'm not too worried about the surgery or the strict medical regime afterward - it's the fear of organ rejection.

It's now early evening and as the day has settled in, so have my emotions also settled down. I've called and talked with Eleanor, Scott, Alison, the priest at our church (a wonderful and compassionate woman who is also a physician) and a few close friends to share the news. They were all appreciative of my anxiety.

Of course, I had to check out Mayo's spanking new state-of-the-art hospital in Jacksonville. It's pretty nice with all sorts of patient amenities. Not a bad facility, if one must be in a hospital.

More on my journey later.

It Could Be Getting Closer.

Today, while taking my morning constitutional walk through our subdivision, the Mayo Clinic's Transplant social worker called for update of my insurance medical and prescription insurance situation (pretty good!). She mentioned that I was now 10th (for my blood type - A) on Mayo's transplant list. Since I was 24th on the list in January, I guess that it'll be a few months, perhaps December or January, before I receive "the call".

Earlier this summer, when MCG (Medical College of GA in Augusta, GA) notified me that I was in the newly-established "paired transplant" program, I was hopeful that, with an available live but unmatched donor, I would receive a live kidney by this fall. A month or so ago, however, my MCG transplant coordinator explained that their program was still in the process of securing the necessary approvals and that the likelihood on a live kidney donation was still in the undetermined but distant future. C'est la vie.

On the positive side, my current renal function is somewhat above 10%; I'm not yet on dialysis; I'm feeling well and - contrary to Connie's teasing non-medical opinion - I'm in control of my mental faculties.