Dear friends and family, here's Bob/Irving's latest update. We are racking up the miles to UCSF, and in spite of all the detours in the transplant plan, feel hopeful that it will happen when the time is right! The team there is very attentive and supportive, and keeping a close eye on blood pressure, fluid retention, diet, attitude and all that keeps these things in order.
And now from the main man:
Greetings everyone,
My right heart cath indicated high pulmonary pressure which eliminates placement on the transplant list at this time. The course now is to treat this condition with medications and recheck in early March, with another right heart catheterization. Dialysis has been strongly suggested within the next coupla of months to ease this pressure by getting rid of excess fluid as well. Not my favorite course at this time but my kidneys will not get any better either although for now they are still functioning. The doc thinks dialysis would help both my kidneys and my heart, so we'll see what the verdict is and go along with it.
One plus in this is I have an excellent cardiologist at UCSF who seems to be very focused on my situation - he is proactively working to get me listed, in spite of the transplant surgeon's less rosy prognosis: he suggested that Dave stay available to give his kidney, and then we wait for a heart in a second operation, in spite of the cardiologist's feeling that my heart would not do well during a kidney transplant. Bottom line, nothing is definite, but we are inching forward still.
