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Hello TW friends!
Just a quick update, slowly but surely I am clawing my way back to being a somewhat ‘normal’ human being. Stage 4 cancer has now been in full remission for almost 3 years although still on dialysis. Over the last few weeks, I am making trips out to Duke and going through the kidney transplant ‘listing’ process. This involves everything from educational classes (WFT, drive three and a half hours each way just to sit in hours of Zoom classes???), to endless tests, CAT scans, PET scans, stress tests, (WTF do they need 22 tubes of blood for???), to sitting with their financial people and getting cost estimates (WTF, $440,000 for a kidney transplant!!!).
After all of this I can offer one piece of advice, when you are young and before you marry anyone ask them the most important question… what is your blood type? That way and years down the road you will have a way to harvest any organ you might need!
There is one issue with me getting a transplant, since I was part of the first group of people to be ‘cured’ of this type cancer with immunotherapy, they have no idea what will happen if I get a transplant and then take the required immunosuppressant drugs (the immunotherapy chemo supercharged my immune system and this would get reversed with the transplant immunosuppressant drugs). They only have 3 other people who have done this so far but screw it, I am going for it. Someone has to be among the first group to find out what happens and I am weary of dialysis (over 7 years now).
And when they call with an available kidney I have to get to the hospital within 6 hours so I convinced my wife that we need some ‘rapid transit’. So I just brought home a new car…
2021 Honda Civic Type R!
Eph
Just a quick update, slowly but surely I am clawing my way back to being a somewhat ‘normal’ human being. Stage 4 cancer has now been in full remission for almost 3 years although still on dialysis. Over the last few weeks, I am making trips out to Duke and going through the kidney transplant ‘listing’ process. This involves everything from educational classes (WFT, drive three and a half hours each way just to sit in hours of Zoom classes???), to endless tests, CAT scans, PET scans, stress tests, (WTF do they need 22 tubes of blood for???), to sitting with their financial people and getting cost estimates (WTF, $440,000 for a kidney transplant!!!).
After all of this I can offer one piece of advice, when you are young and before you marry anyone ask them the most important question… what is your blood type? That way and years down the road you will have a way to harvest any organ you might need!
There is one issue with me getting a transplant, since I was part of the first group of people to be ‘cured’ of this type cancer with immunotherapy, they have no idea what will happen if I get a transplant and then take the required immunosuppressant drugs (the immunotherapy chemo supercharged my immune system and this would get reversed with the transplant immunosuppressant drugs). They only have 3 other people who have done this so far but screw it, I am going for it. Someone has to be among the first group to find out what happens and I am weary of dialysis (over 7 years now).
And when they call with an available kidney I have to get to the hospital within 6 hours so I convinced my wife that we need some ‘rapid transit’. So I just brought home a new car…
2021 Honda Civic Type R!
Eph
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