THIRD BLOOD TEST!

Yes, third!!

Tom has now made three trips to his doctors office to get the required blood work submitted TODAY or he falls to a MELD score of 6 on the transplant list (which is bad).  Apparently on the second trip they only ran the tests they didn't get the first time.  All of the tests have to be run on the same day so that required the third trip.  He also had a dentist appointment yesterday afternoon to get the permanent crowns.  He called me and asked if I could come and get him.  He thought he would have enough strength to get to one appointment, but not both.  So I left work and shuttled him back and forth yesterday afternoon.  I will be following up this morning with his doctors office to verify they fax the test results and then follow up with the Liver Center to make sure they have everything they need.  If they don't, I have no idea what we're going to do.  I'm praying like crazy they have everything they need.  The benefit of getting them run a third time is that I had requested they check Tom's ammonia level and they were going to do that this time.  They checked his potassium level and it is normal.

For those of you who think you're the only one who has days like this, you can thank us because you are not alone - ever.  And, for those of you who never have days like this, you can thank us too - the reason it never happens to you is because it's always happening to us!  :-)

Anyway, I asked Tom's nurse if one of the doctors could review his blood test results just to make sure everything looked OK - this being a holiday weekend and all.  His PCP is off this week.  Dr. Miller, his gastroenterologist, called yesterday and told me everything looked good, which of course is great news.  Dr. Miller was shocked at how good the kidney numbers were.  He said that Tom's bilirubin was a little high and his albumin is low and he's also anemic (which is hard to believe because he is taking 3 iron pills daily).  The bilirubin and albumin are 2 of the 5 tests make up the MELD score.  I kind of hope it at least stays where it is or even goes up a little but I'm thinking it will go down and we'll be waiting longer. 

We finally have the clearance letter from the dentist so I'll fax that this morning.  Tom has an appointment at the UAB Liver Center on Dec. 21.  He is supposed to see his PCP on the 15th so I'm going to get that changed to the week of the 5th, if possible, to make sure someone is seeing Tom every 2 weeks.  That makes me feel a lot better.

We pray you will all have a Happy Thanksgiving.  We are thankful for you!