Big Decisions

It has been a long time since we last “spoke”.  Well, Gary has been on peritoneal dialysis now for 4 months. He gets these treatments 7 days a week at night at home for several hours.  Thank goodness it has been helping. Grateful for that.  Unfortunately there are issues that are associated with this option. What you may not know is that Gary did register with two kidney transplant center donor lists four years ago, just in case, so glad he did; one in Madison, WI and one in Milwaukee, WI.  Thank goodness he was advised to do this. He was told by his doctors to keep all of his options open. We have been told by both centers that the door is closing on the kidney transplant option. In nine months he will no longer be eligible for a transplant.  Soooo, we have been very busy.  He has been taking medical tests, meeting with both Wisconsin transplant teams, etc.  Big Decisions to make….does he stay on peritoneal dialysis for as long as his body permits or does he request and hope for a transplant, knowing the transplant option will be permanently off the table very soon.  Gary has chosen to move forward with a kidney transplant now.  There is one more hurdle.  Both Madison and Milwaukee need to do a transplant team review of his case before  they can agree to put him on the active list.  These reviews will be done over the next couple of weeks – so we should know soon whether it is a GO for a kidney transplant for Gary. We are staying hopeful.  More again soon.  Marti