Dennis and I have been wanting to get away for a long time, but this really isn't what we had in mind. Sometime today, Dennis will be transferred from the UCD Med Center to the UCSF Hospital. We have no idea how long he'll be there, or how we're going to deal with this whole "living in Sacramento whilst traveling to SF regularly" thing, but we'll cross that (Bay) Bridge when we come to it. At least I know I have a place to stay if I need it - thanks, Becky & Kelly!
The reason for all this didn't really become clear to me until an ah-ha moment on Thursday. I just couldn't understand why the surgeons continued their reluctance to perform the abscess surgery. Yeah, it's risky - duh. But he's been cleared (twice) by Cardiology. He sailed through the angiogram with zero complications. Why the hesitation? Then, that 40 watt bulb over my head came on. All this is about getting him healthy enough to be listed for the transplant, right? So, if UCD doesn't have a Transplant Program, why spend the money and resources on the abscess surgery? While no one has actually come out and said that's what's happening, they haven't denied it, either. In fact, I've had a couple of doctors just look at me as if to say, "Well, yeah, but that sounds bad so we won't admit it". They will say, though, that this is our last chance. If UCSF won't do it, no one will. If no one will, we land in a gray area where no one knows what will happen next. Dennis says he'll heal himself if he has to - he's just the kind of guy who could pull it off, too. (I keep teasing him about finding some extra-strength Kinoki Foot Pads...) We're pretty optimistic, though, that it will never come down to the foot pads. UCSF is a progressive place, and it may actually be in our favor that they don't know us and haven't developed any emotional connection. At this point, we'd much rather have them lay it on the line and make some decisions than be too considerate of our feelings!
So, we prepare for the unknown. I haven't set foot in UCSF's hospital in 25 years, and I'm sure it's changed dramatically since then. As familiar as we are with the staff and overall operation of UCD, we are that unfamiliar with UCSF - no favorite nurses, no familiar faces in the hallway, no favorite parking spot in the garage. The whole thing makes me even more sympathetic to the patients of the Transplant Program who are being forced to make this same journey on their own, without the assistance of the hospital-to-hospital transfer process. Which reminds me, have you joined Facebook and my "Save the UC Davis Liver Transplant Program" yet?
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