Posted 4/30/2020 10:19 AM (GMT -8)
Hi everyone, not sure if anyone remembers my story (well my fathers) from late 2014.
In October that year he received a life saving transplant, in large part due to the help from this messageboard. Its great to see some familiar names still on here! Mamalama so good to see you taking the lead and so glad to see Mike is still going strong 9 years in!
I am sad to hear about David, he was such a key member during my time here.
I recall great help from others as well such as Sean (SyXx), The Miz, ppm guy, Ziff, worried daughter among others. I hope everyone is doing well. I got a little emotional reading through some of these old posts.
So wanted to give everyone an update on my dad. I can not believe it has been 5 years...going on 6. How time flies. At the time I thought it was over, and now I look back and can't imagine the last 6 years without him.
So overall things have been pretty good health wise with some minor issues until recently.
First off, it has been a rough road...2 months after we celebrated my dads 4 year transplant anniversary, my brother (his oldest son) died suddenly of a heart condition at the age of 40....talk about survivors guilt...It was such a huge blow and still is to the family. I honestly thought the depression was going to destroy my dad. It was a rough end to 2018.
It really put a strain on my life as well...I had accomplished so much by saving my father, and here I could do nothing to help my brother and best friend at such a young age. It seemed like a huge slap in the face and almost like a "payback" of sorts. Its been tough for me to accept. God gave one gift and extended a life, then took another so early. He left behind 3 young kids that I am now helping raise. Which is the only thing that keeps me from falling off...
To this date my father and I rarely talk about it but I know we both feel the same guilt.
Now to add to all of this, despite the fact it has been a successful 5 years for my dad, his latest labs caught us by complete shock and worry.
After 5 years and 6 months of stable numbers, his ALT (61), AST (45), ALP(174) and GGT (224) all jumped significantly. Every single one of those increased by double since January. Needless to say we are worried...the dreaded 5 year mark...which I believe historically is the borrowed time mark for many.
Mamalama I think you even mentioned in a post that we lost a few of our members at the 5-7 year mark. He got the labs on his 69th birthday btw...imagine that for a Happy Birthday...We are waiting to hear back from the transplant team but this is not a good trend. hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come, but certainly a red flag.
He feels hopeless right now, thinking he met his extended time and reading the "average life expectancy articles" isn't helping. But with CoVID right now, he is in his house with plenty of time to think. I am hopeful that this is just a hiccup and we can get another 5 years strong.
Well just wanted to say hi and chime in as I feel sharing the story may help others.
Would love to hear from or about some past members!