Sooo…. July was busy!

We came home exhausted and dismayed only to realize we had a lot of work ahead of us.  We had to catch up on the gardening, deep cleaning of the house, the pool furniture, porch.  You name it.  It had a layer of dirt, was overgrown, or needed attention.  I had to catch up on office work, too!   Add to this, the need to have fun, decompress a bit, and to reconnect with our friends, family, community.  Oh, and of course, I needed to get my rear in gear working on Plan "B" for Fred. 

We spent at least a week tirelessly doing maintenance work and reconnecting with our pups -- just enjoying California, our home, our life on Lincoln Street, splattered with meals or coffee with friends and family.  We met for coffee, lunch, and dinner with friends locally.  And, of course, we had to connect with Britt and Drago in Rancho Palos Verdes (where they treated us to lunch at Nelson’s, at Terranea Cove).  Perfect weather.  Perfect company.

Fourth of July Weekend

We got home at the end of June and we were ready for some fun in time for the first 626 Night Market at Santa Anita racetrack.  They kicked off the summer festivities 4^th of July Weekend with a bang! It is a huge Asian-themed night market with music, art, and a huge selection of food!  We had fun, but ended up cutting it short due to the crowd.  It was worse than the Vegan Street Fair (for any of you who were with me on that one).  Fred got claustrophobic just waiting for an order and bailed.  But up until that point – a good time.

 

 

The same weekend, we thought we would try and connect with a small but close group of friends all at once – and at our house.  We opted for a super casual pot luck by the pool and it was just what the doctor ordered.  It was so great to have the yard in order and to spend time with each and every one of these smiling faces.  So very good to reconnect (and a special photo cred to Raj for the drink pic I lifted).  We love you all and wish we could do more of that, please! 

On to the Fourth of July Celebrations with my sister’s family and friends at Lakeside Golf Club.  Great food, dancing, good company, and THE BEST fireworks show from the perfect vantage point – the golf course.  What. A. Fabulous. Night.  (Thanks you guys!)

 

The next weekend we hung out with our friend, George and his adorable twin girls.  Then Fred and I headed to the Greek Theatre to see Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett perform (for Fred’s 61^st birthday present).  Emmylou still has it at 69 years old.  And Lyle Lovett killed it!  Another good weekend.   So much fun. 

The girls (Isabella and Sophia) in the water.  The boys (Fred, George, Tank) in the shade. 



Meanwhile – Plan “B” Was Concurrently Brewing and Ever-changing

I have been horrible at returning emails to my friends and I am so sorry.  In between all of this I have been trying to keep the plates spinning without anything else crashing down. 

We had referrals and/or records sent to the following centers to see if they would evaluate Fred: 1) Ocshner – New Orleans, LA; 2) Methodist University – Memphis, TN; and UNMC (Nebraska Med) – Omaha, NE.    Ocshner would not even speak with us until they received records, Methodist would not schedule an evaluation until they met Fred for an initial appointment, and Nebraska Med had to review his images before they would schedule an evaluation.    

When we were still in Kansas City, we knew Nebraska was not open until July, but they would not schedule until KUMed sent them Fred’s records.  By the time they got the records, the soonest we could get an evaluation was August 22^nd.  We took it and let them know we would be interested in sooner if they had a cancellation.  Our introductory appointment with Methodist was scheduled for July 26^th.  We booked a whole week in Memphis, hoping they would agree to evaluate Fred the three days following the initial appointment (rather than coming home and flying back).  And Ocshner was still looking over Fred’s records, unsure if he was a good candidate there.

Then things started moving really fast.  We got a call from Nebraska Med they had a cancellation the week of July 11^th.  We took it and it went so well that we cancelled our trip to Memphis.  Good thing, because UNMC decided to list Fred and petition for his higher MELD exception.  The plan was for UCSF to get the 34 MELD on July 28^th and for Nebraska to petition for the same MELD once he had the 34 at UCSF.   When we spoke with San Francisco (UCSF), they let us know they were waiting on some imaging from Nebraska Med and would be late in their petition for a higher score.  UCSF mentioned that once they got the 34, Fred would be on their radar for a liver and we would need to be 4-6 hours away when he got an offer.

Ocshner declined Fred's request for an evaluation, based on the fact he had recurrent liver cancer.

We were now looking into the real possibilities of  relocating to San Francisco and Omaha, with no idea yet when, or where the 34 MELD score would put Fred on the list at either center.

It also came to light that Fred was due for a colonoscopy and we were trying to get that lined up ASAP.

MELD 34 Granted – Get out here!!

What an amazingly quick and unexpected surprise it was to get a call from Nebraska Med just 3 days ago – July 28th.  They decided not to wait for UCSF and to request the 34 MELD from their region right away.  They got it and said that was a really high score for their center and for us to get out there immediately.  Fred called them back to say we could drive out the next day and would be in Omaha by Sunday (today).  They said “no” to the drive – that we needed to fly out immediately and be there the next day.  They don’t get a lot of livers but his score puts him right at the top.  We cannot delay and risk one coming up while we were not local. 

So, we wrapped it all up once again.  Packed, cleaned, prayed, and left the next day with no idea where we were going to live or for how long.  We are now in Omaha.  The hotel we had lined up for the first week was a filthy, nasty, dump and so we checked out at 10:30pm the same night.  We are staying in a Holiday Inn Express until we find an available apartment that is close enough to the center.  We looked all day yesterday and found a furnished loft in the Downtown/The Old Market area of Omaha – about 12 minutes from the hospital.  We applied today and had to dig around on-line to find the information for a credit check, as we did not even think to bring pay stubs or tax returns.  Hopefully, we will be accepted and move in by Friday.  Updates to follow...