Donor Evaluation

I know some of you are curious what the donor evaluation is all about...so, here's a summary of the schedule Israel has over the course of 2+ days:

Echocardiogram
Surgeon Visit
Liver Function Tests and 1st Blood Typing
Dietary Consult
Abdominal CT Scan
Chest X-Ray
Dexascan (just looked this up - used to diagnose osteoperosis)
ECG
2nd Blood Typing
Arterial Blood Gas (fancy blood test from what I can tell)
Abdonminal Ultrasound

Finally, a Social Work Consult, with primary caregiver (me). So, they want to meet with you and your "support person" to make sure you are UP TO the challenges of caring for the donor after the surgery. In our case, this is key since I will be caring for both Israel and Mario...they want to make sure we have a good network of assistance around us (YOU GUYS!) and that I won't end up in the looney bin with two patients at home :)

If he'a approved, Mario's team and Israel's team discuss the timing. Right now, Mario would probably continue to wait for a deceased donor since he is doing "ok" but we would have this as a back-up option if things get worse. If Israel is not approved, we can continue to send potential donors (1 at a time) until we find someone who IS approved. Those of you who have the paperwork know who you are - we are so very grateful for you! We'll keep the blog updated as we know more about Israel's evaluation.