Wednesday, May 15, 2013



May 15th - The Roller Coaster Ride has crashed!

Well, it has continued to be a rough ride since the last post and we had a meeting with the transplant team today (Charlie has been in the hospital since yesterday) and the bottom line is that they are NOT putting Charlie back on the transplant list! They feel that he would not make it through surgery. Meg wrote the following for me after she talked to the transplant surgeon – “With the combination of how he reacts to anesthesia and his cardiac problems they can’t risk doing the surgery. The surgery that he needs is quite a bit more complicated than an already complicated liver transplant due to the extensiveness of clots in his portal liver vein system. He would not be able to handle the complex parts of the surgery when he would need to have intense resuscitation.  And…while the transplant surgeon feels confident that he could perform the surgery/reattachment of the donor liver, the anesthesia team does not think it is likely that they can keep him alive during the process. They have determined the risk is too great.

The transplant surgeon assured us that they will facilitate coordinating care in locations where we will likely be – Roseville, Portland, and Seattle – so we will be able to have medical care in place at these locations. He also said that despite how grim it often feels, that he(Charlie) could live quite a while longer – even to the degree of it being something else that could be life-ending rather that the liver.

We are going to take our time in figuring out what we want to do and how Charlie wants to create this next phase of life and go from there. Right now, we are devastated and kind of in shock!

We probably won’t head home to CA until the end of June giving us some time to get out and do some things in the Midwest since we have been so closely tethered to Iowa City.

We continue to ask for your prayers as we start to adjust to this news and we are just very thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers over the last 17 months. We do know that God has a plan for us….

Once we get plans going we will post a blog!
Mary and Charlie


5 comments:

  1. Mary and Charlie, we are so so sorry for this turn of events. We love you both so much and are sending all our love your way now. xoxo

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  2. Mary and Charlie, Take some much needed time to breathe and regroup. The good news is you will soon be home, closer to family and friends, your yard, garden, familiarity.... You two have amazing positive spirits. The Lord will lead you to Plan B., along with the prayers of many friends/family. Love you both.

    Nancy M

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  3. Mary & Charlie, Cathy & I ask in the name of the Lord that your health remains good to continue your travels & enjoy life. Obviously we would love to have you both at the ROTC reunion, but we will be thinking about you, in any event.

    God Bless, Roy & Cathy
    303-980-5877

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  4. Mary and Charlie,
    I, too, am sorry for this news about the transplant. I wish you the best, and hope to see you in Roseville soon. Enjoy your time being closer to your family and actually getting to be in your home again. Don't hesitate to call, and this time dinner could be my treat!

    Love, Monica

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  5. Charlie and Mary,
    Wish I could be there to give you both a hug and just sit and have a nice chat. I so dislike being so far away from dear friends. I know you are disappointed and hopefully by the time you get home the Lord will give you both the peace and acceptance to enjoy the years you have ahead of you. Give our love to Meg and Doug. Love, Carol and Mark

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