Navigating the Speed Bumps

This seems like a good time for me to bring out one of my favorite quotes from my favorite Hobbit.

"Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!"

—Bilbo Baggins        

Becky continues to find post-transplant speed bumps, or maybe they find her. Either way, we continue moving forward because it's the only thing to do. 

The two biggest speed bumps at the moment are how the immunosuppressant medications are affecting Becky's kidney, and properly treating her anemia.

Becky's primary kidney doctor at UTSW decided that the immunosuppressant medication was affecting her kidney function enough that she needed to make some adjustments. It's not that this wasn't a potential problem all along or probably even a surprise to the transplant team. Everybody's system reacts differently, and the team was trying to make sure we had tried everything else and given it enough time to decide the overall trend was headed far enough in the wrong direction before making a change.

Everything has pros and cons, and this change is no different. The new medication will supplement the current one, but allow the current one to be at a lower dose. That should help Becky's kidney. However, the new medication has its own potential side effects, some of which have already started to manifest. Time will tell if this new mix is a good alternative or if we'll have to explore something else.

On the anemia front, progress has been made, but it also came at a cost. The good news is that Texas Oncology appears to now be fully on board and ready to take full ownership for managing Becky's anemia. She had an iron infusion last month, and overall Becky seems to have a bit more energy. However, her most recent bloodwork didn't really show much of an improvement so we'll see what Texas Oncology recommends at the next appointment in a couple weeks.

The cost of not getting everybody on the same page sooner so treatments could have started earlier is that Becky does still have some moments where she feels a little "off" and sometimes a little light-headed. It's similar to low blood pressure symptoms, but we've been monitoring that and her blood pressure seems ok. She had one episode of light-headedness while in the kitchen and she fell to her knees. She banged up one knee pretty good and bruised/cracked rib(s) again as she fell backward into the pantry door frame. She's doing better now and has been able to babysit grandkids a couple days so that helps with the pain. :-)

Through it all, we're still moving forward. The road has included a fender bender, a plumbing/flooding issue (and the resulting cleanup), cataracts (and upcoming surgeries), and probably another speed bump or two I've already forgotten. But we've also been able to continue down the road. We've been able to spend time with kids and grandkids including hosting an Easter Egg hunt. Becky's brother and sister-in-law (Steve and Peggy) stayed with us for a few days while visiting from California. Becky's cousin from Oklahoma spent the night before joining all of us at Becky's annual family gathering in Cameron. And I can't leave out the fact that we've enjoyed watching the San Antonio Spurs on their playoff run!

Maybe one of the best signs that Becky is still moving forward is that fact that she's returned to the sewing room. She sewed some curtains for Elizabeth's bedroom. After that, she decided to tackle a quilt that she had started pre-transplant. She was able to finish it and I was able to deliver it to my mom in Florida. Now she's looking forward to working on some new sewing projects! Yay!

Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!

Twists and Turns Continue

Just in case we had started to think Becky's journey was all smooth sailing and everything had returned to normal at this point, we've been reminded over the last several weeks that her journey is not the same as everybody else's. Her normal won't ever be the same as most people's normal. For now, let's just say that this year has started out with its share of twists and turns and unexpected pit stops for both of us (consider that a bit of foreshadowing).

In general, Becky's intestinal problems have been less severe than they were last year. We did make one trip to the ER for a suspected SBO (small bowel obstruction), but it more or less resolved itself with an overnight stay. She's had a couple other recent episodes where she felt like she was headed in that direction, but she managed to will herself through them avoid more ER visits.

The bigger problem so far this year has been a combination of a virus of some sort and her anemia. Becky came down with what started out as a cold in late January. She most likely picked it up somewhere along the way during our short trip to Florida. After a making the rounds to the doctors - one urgent care visit, one after hours clinic visit, and one PCP appointment - with diagnoses of a cold, bronchitis, and "coarse" sounding lungs, she eventually ended up in the ER in late February. While there, she was diagnosed with dehydration and AKI (acute kidney injury), and was admitted to spend a couple days getting IV fluids and for general observation.

After she came home, she was still fatigued. Her regular bloodwork she does for her transplant team the next week showed she was still dehydrated and still showed signs of anemia. All this on top of some kidney bloodwork numbers that still didn't look normal to me. We didn't really get all those results until a Friday afternoon a couple weeks ago. We sent several messages to doctors to determine the best next steps and by the following Monday they had suggested we head to UTSW in Dallas for an in-person appointment and that we schedule an ultrasound on Becky's kidney. That turned out to be a bit of an adventure, but we eventually coordinated it so she could get the ultrasound on the same day while we were at UTSW.

We had a good conversation with the kidney doctor during that visit. I brought up some of my own concerns about the trends of some of Becky's kidney numbers. The doctor was less concerned than I was about some of them being out of the normal ranges. She made the very valid point that "normal" ranges don't necessarily apply to a transplant patient with only one kidney. She did want to run a few more tests since we were there so she could rule out a couple other possibilities like a UTI and also check for organ rejection markers.

Within a couple days we had another set of test results. Everything looked OK. The doctor said there were no changes to Becky's medications or routine required - other than she needs to drink more water. There was no mention of rejection concerns, and no abnormal results from the ultrasound. She'll probably be back on a schedule for more frequent bloodwork for a little while just to be on the safe side.

We are still working through some things with Texas Oncology regarding Becky's anemia and bloodwork numbers related to that. She still has a fair number of days where she's tired and worn out. Texas Oncology had cancelled her March appointment because the doctor wasn't available (or something like that). It was a little unclear. We do have something on the books for April and I plan to go with her so we can make sure we both understand the situation and the plan forward.

On a more positive note, Becky has started to get back into her sewing room. She's picking up the pieces (literally) from a quilt she had started before her health degraded to the point where she couldn't continue. She had been hesitant because she just wasn't sure if she could still do it. After getting started, she's enjoying it and even said she was looking forward to getting back to sewing and quilting.

At the end of the day, we're still both extremely grateful for the transplants and the chance to continue life together - even if the road has a few more turns and pit stops than we'd like. Thanks again to all those that have supported us and been on the journey with us.

Two Years at Home

It's been a minute since my last post. Actually, it's been a little over 140,000 minutes, but who's counting? I missed making a post on the two year anniversary of Becky's transplant (11/28/23), so this more or less marks two years since she was discharged and we were able to return home from Dallas.

I suppose one of the reasons I haven't been making as many posts recently is that things have  been going fairly smoothly. It's been a reasonably smooth stretch of highway over the last few months.

Our last visit to Dallas was for Becky's two-year checkup with her primary liver doctor. This is the same doctor she saw on that initial "evaluation" visit in October of 2023. All of her most recent liver bloodwork numbers looked good. In fact, they looked so good, the next appointment is in a year!

We did talk a little about Becky's gastro problems which have been the main issue lately. Those that we see in person or get more regular text updates know that we've been making a trip to the local ER ever 6-8 weeks or so with intestinal problems that usually lead to a 2-4 day hospital stay. On the plus side, the most recent ER trip earlier this month was a "false alarm", or maybe Becky just recognized the symptoms early enough that it resolved itself without the usual hospital shenanigans. The liver doctor did have some additional advice on steps she can take to try to avoid the issue in the future. We're still working on it.

Since I'm here, I have a couple more quick updates.

Becky's anemia seems to be better. She's finally being treated for that locally. I didn't go with her to the last appointment, but the bottom line sounded OK. I think there might still be a couple questions about longer term medications and interactions that the doctor at Texas Oncology is working out.

Another plus, we did finally get her referral for osteopenia treatment to Texas Oncology as well. It's been something we've been working on for six months. I'm not sure why in this age of electronic and online everything the simple sending and receiving of a referral between organizations is so difficult. We finally solved the problem by getting a signed hardcopy of the referral from UTSW while we were in Dallas. Becky took that to her appointment at Texas Oncology and got her first treatment that day. Paperwork!

Overall, a little two years post transplant and things feel mostly normal. Becky has a few things she’s dealing with, but most of them are not really related to the transplants. Those seem to be doing fine.

As always, we are thankful for those that helped us through this journey, no matter what form that help took. We’re grateful for every year and hope to ring in many more together.

Happy 2026!

Our Disney Adventure

Warning: This is a rather lengthy post. :-)

Some of you may already know this, but it had been one of Becky’s goals for several years, prior to liver disease and transplant issues, to take a family vacation to Disney World - one that included all the kids and grandkids. As we approached her one-year transplant anniversary last November, Becky was adamant that she wanted to schedule it for sooner rather than later. In an attempt to avoid some of the largest crowds, we decided as a family to shoot for October of this year. And so, the wheels were set in motion. We picked some dates that minimized the number of days kids would miss school and I started making reservations and buying tickets.

If you’ve been keeping up over the last year, either via Facebook, this blog, text messages, or just normal conversations, you know it hasn’t been all rainbows and unicorns. Becky has had her share of issues starting with the shoulder replacement last December, the repeated small bowel obstruction issues, a couple infections, and most recently, her anemia diagnosis. Even as these complications threatened to derail the family vacation, we continued making and finalizing plans. Even as her fatigue from the anemia threatened to keep her down, Becky reiterated that we did not need to reschedule. Even as a couple late season tropical depressions threatened to dump rain on central Florida, we crossed our fingers, bought rain ponchos, and stayed the course.

I had three goals for the trip:

1. No Emergency Room trips
2. No wheelchair for Becky
3. Everybody eats and drinks enough to survive (I borrowed that one from Courtney)

With all that as background, I imagine you might be curious to know how it went. Well, things did not start out very well. Becky and I arrived earlier in the day than the kids and spent a few hours at Disney Springs. After that, Becky decided a nice relaxing bath in the garden tub in our rental house would be a good way to cap a day that started with a 3:30 am walk-up call to make our flight in Austin. Unfortunately, she lost her balance getting out of the tub and fell pretty hard on her arm. A couple hours later, as the pain level increased, we made a trip to a local Emergency Room clinic to get it checked out. We mainly wanted to verify it wasn’t broken - even though Becky was prepared to continue our adventure in a splint of cast if necessary. Thankfully, it wasn’t broken, but the sling and pain meds meant she needed to spend most of her days in the park getting pushed in a wheelchair. It was only the first day, and we had failed to meet the first two goals.

Toward the end of our first day in the park, Becky was shopping in one of the Magic Kingdom gift shops. She was walking for a bit because it was too crowded to maneuver the wheelchair easily. When she was done, she lost her balance getting back into the wheelchair and sort of fell into it face-first and landed with her knees under the chair. This was a much less serious fall, but she did get a new scrape and did need help from Mr. Incredible to get back up. No, that wasn’t me. I was with the kids a little way up the street. It’s Halloween party time at Disney so the Mr. Incredible was another park visitor that just happened to be nearby and offered to help. The folks at Disney were awesome in helping get Becky's new scrape bandaged up and offered to provide any medical services or help we needed. I think this fall hurt Becky's ego as much as anything, and thankfully, this was her last fall of the trip.

The weather was mostly cooperative. Even though there were a couple tropical storms headed toward the East Coast the week before we left, they both veered away and headed north so there wasn’t any widespread rain. We did have a couple days with storms. One was fairly short-lived, and the other was in the evening as we were leaving the parks. Mostly, it was warm and humid - warmer than we expected for October, but not overbearing.

For those that aren't familiar, Disney has special events in Magic Kingdom during the holidays. Mickey's Not-So-Scarry Halloween party in the Fall, and Mickey's Christmas Party after that. Regular ticket holders have to leave the park early on these evenings, and you have to have a special ticket to attend the special late-night festivities. Crowds are limited to about a third of normal park capacity. We had tickets for one night and enjoyed the special Halloween parade, the special fireworks show over the castle, trick-or-treating for the kids, and some shorter lines at a few of the rides. It was a late night, but it was a lot of fun for everyone.

A couple days later, Becky wasn't feeling well and decided she needed to stay home and rest up a little. After pushing her wheelchair for most of the first few days, I felt like I could use a break as well. My hip and right leg were burning and going numb. That will be one of the topics for my PCP at my next appointment. The kids went to Animal Kingdom without us that day. They told us later that it was probably the least wheelchair friendly of the parks, so it was probably a good decision all-around.

We had one more full day with the family in the parks. We did a little park hopping to catch a few things we had missed. Brian was feeling bad, but he pushed through. He went to the CVS Minute Clinic when he got home and was diagnosed with strep throat. I'm not sure how he kept it to himself, but thankfully he did.

Becky and I stayed one extra day to make it easier to coordinate trips to the airport, and checkout from our Vrbo rental. We went back to Magic Kingdom and rode a couple things we had missed and did a little last-minute shopping. We kept it pretty low-key and we left the parks fairly early. It was hot and crowded and we were running on fumes.

Our return trip home was mostly uneventful, although we did have to do a last-minute swap of items between our suitcases at the Southwest counter because Becky's was over the 50-pound limit. She bought a few too many t-shirts.

In the end, it was a great trip. Everyone had a great time, and most of us brought home memories that will last a lifetime. The younger kids probably won't remember much, but we have hundreds of pictures for them to look back at! And we all met goal #3!

P.S. We're still working on Becky's anemia. She received iron infusions in October, and she has follow-up labs scheduled in November to see how her bloodwork looks. We also need to coordinate treatment for her osteopenia (pre-osteoporosis).

Kidney Stones, and UTIs, and Anemia, Oh My!

It's time for another update.

Things have been going fairly smoothly since Becky's last surgery in June. It feels like her SBO (small bowel obstruction) issues have been resolved - at least for now. She did make one return trip to the ER and hospital in July for what felt like another SBO issue. This came as quite a surprise since she had the surgery which was supposed to "clean up" all the scar tissue that was thought to be the most likely root cause of her SBO problems. This particular episode and ER/hospital trip was not quite as severe as most of her previous ones. Things pretty much cleared up on their own within a day or so and she was able to head back home.

On the other hand, my body decided it was time to join in on the fun. A few weeks ago, I woke up extra early on a Friday morning with pain in the left side of my back. Since I had been down this road a couple times before, I was pretty sure what the cause was, but I was hoping this kidney stone would take care of itself without a trip to the Emergency Room. No such luck. Within an hour or so, I knew that at a minimum some pains meds were going to be in order. Something stronger than over-the-counter Tylenol or Ibuprofen. It was a relatively short trip. A scan to confirm the stone (and a few other lying in waiting), some pain meds, and something to help it pass. No surgery. I was better in a couple days, but I'm doing some follow-ups to decide on next steps. Becky said it felt weird to be sitting in the chair in the ER room while I was the one on the bed being treated. Anyway, enough about me. Back to Becky

Becky also made one more trip to the ER. She had been diagnosed as being anemic a few weeks ago. In fact, she's been borderline anemic off and on since the transplant. It's a common issue that transplant recipients have to deal with, and the transplant team has tried to improve things with various vitamins and meds. It's been a little worse lately and we had been working on the best plan to get Becky some iron infusions. Anyway, Becky woke up one morning with some chest pain. Since anemia can lead to heart issues, we decided to get her checked out. Better safe than sorry. The good news was that there were no heart issues. The bad news was that during the course of running all the tests they determined Becky had a UTI. Actually, it wasn't terrible news. Since Becky's on immunosuppressant medications, it's good the UTI was found early so it could be treated. She stayed in the hospital a couple days getting IV antibiotics and everything cleared up.

As far as the anemia goes, we were able to get the insurance to approve getting iron infusions at Texas Oncology here in Round Rock rather than having to make multiple trips to UTSW in Dallas. Becky finished a first round last week, and she's feeling a little better. It was a little emotional for her to get those infusions in the same room that her mom got chemo treatments a few years ago. Life likes to throw a curve every once in a while. Anyway, she's still tired, and she'll be getting some follow up blood work in a couple months to see where things stand.

So, overall things seem to be going fairly well. We haven't had any major issues in a few months. It feels like the we're dealing with fewer of the big things, and we're finally figuring out what Becky's new normal is two after her transplants. Yep, November 28th will be two years.

Until next time...

The End of a Chapter?

Once again, it’s been a few months since my last post. And once again, that’s mostly been good news. Becky hadn’t had any major issues for several months. She had some routine tests, and some not-so-routine tests, and everything came back normal. The main issue recently had been that her recovery from the shoulder surgery was quite a bit more difficult than we expected. It set her back a bit in terms of general strength and stamina, but she was getting back to the point of doing some evening walks to try to prepare for our upcoming Disney vacation. And then...

Well, before I go there, a step back. For those that have been following along at home, you may remember that Becky had been back to the ER and/or hospital for nausea, stomach, and abdominal issues several times over the past year and half. Prior to last week, she had been diagnosed with four separate small bowel obstructions (SBOs). Now, back to last week...

Becky started feeling the now familiar symptoms of an SBO once again last Tuesday. After a couple exchanges with her team at UTSW to figure out what next steps might be, she started feeling worse and the decision became easier. We were headed back to the local ER.

Once we went through all the normal steps - blood work, CT scans, etc. - there was one aspect of this episode that was slightly different. The radiologist reported that although not conclusive, there were indications that this SBO could be a “closed loop” obstruction. That raised the bar in terms of urgency because that can quickly lead to intestinal damage and related complications.

As a reminder (because I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before), one of the primary causes of SBOs is scar tissue. However, we learned two new things on that front during this visit. First, it’s not likely that the transplant surgery was the primary or even a significant contributor to the scar tissue around the intestine. Her new transplant organs are not really in that area. Second, the most common cause of scar tissue in women that deal with SBOs are hysterectomy and gall bladder surgeries. Becky has had both plus a few other surgeries in her abdominal area over the years.

What did all this mean? Well, after talking through the options with the ER surgeon for almost half an hour (which I was extremely appreciative of), we decided that it was time to take the next step. Rather than continuing the typical non-invasive methods to address the SBO, we decided to go with the option of performing surgery to see if we could address the scar tissue as the root cause. Becky went into surgery somewhere around midnight, and I hung out in the very empty OR waiting room shown in the photo above.

There is a lot more to this story and decision, but I’ll go with the a short version here. The surgeon started by attempting laparoscopy, but there was so much scar tissue he could not make any progress. He ended up making a rather long incision, and spending a fair amount of time, separating scar tissue from her intestines as well addressing scar tissue around her colon and in her pelvis. Fortunately, there was not a closed loop SBO, so it was not necessary to repair or remove a section of her intestine.

The good news is that this should provide some longer term relief from the SBO problems. The bad news (there always seems to be a little bad news with the good news) is that since this was a more invasive surgery that ultimately required the surgeon to “put everything back” when he was done (his words), Becky was pretty sore afterward. It also took her system a little longer to start working again after the surgery, but we made it. After several days in the hospital, Becky is back home and back on the road to recovery so she can get back to babysitting grandkids (but without carrying them for the next six weeks).

Once again, we are thankful to those that stood beside us in prayer.

Here’s hoping this is the end of this chapter (at least for now) and that we don’t need to make any more ER trips in the near future! I don’t really need a reason to monitor the construction progress at the hospital!

While We Were Away

It’s been a couple months since my last post. For the most part, that’s good news. Things have been fairly stable and have been going pretty well. For the most part.

For those that didn’t know, Becky had been dealing with a lot of shoulder pain last year. She saw a couple different orthopedic doctors, and the diagnosis was that she had significant arthritis in her shoulder, almost complete loss of cartilage in her joint, and a few bone spurs. The only long-term solution was to have a shoulder replacement - especially since most pain medications would be off limits for a liver transplant recipient.

Well, that wasn’t on the radar. In hindsight, even though it may not have changed her mind about having the surgery, we feel we were not well informed about the post-surgery pain, physical therapy, and recovery time. Shoulder replacement is much more painful and involved than knee or hip replacement. One of the unfortunate side-trips for Becky turned out to be the result of taking some of her medications too close together resulting in her getting over-sedated. This caused her to aspirate some of her medication, which led to pneumonia and other complications. After a couple days in the hospital, she came back home but the transplant team restricted her to only Tylenol for pain. That made the next week or two even more challenging in terms of pain management, but she made it through it and is regaining strength and range of motion in her shoulder.

After that process started to level out a little, Becky felt like she was getting a UTI. Tests confirmed that and she started an antibiotic. The symptoms seemed to subside and all seemed well…for a few days. Not long after finishing the antibiotics, the symptoms started to return. More tests. This time, the tests indicated an infection that was not likely to respond oral antibiotics, so the UTSW transplant team and infectious disease doctor recommended a seven-day course of IV antibiotics. 

Normally, this would be fairly simple, although it would require a trip to Dallas to have PICC line placed so the IV medication could be administered at home. We didn’t even know that was possible, but apparently, it is. Who knew? However, since it was flu season, all beds at UTSW were occupied and there was no clear timetable for her to be admitted. The team wanted to get the medication started so they coordinated a plan to have Becky start at the local hospital ER, and then she would get admitted to the local hospital for treatment. This seemed like a good plan, but there were a couple speed bumps.

First, it’s flu season here too, so hospital beds are hard to get. She spent the first night and most of the next day in an ER room. At least she wasn’t one of the many patients that were in beds or even chairs in the ER hallways. But for somebody on immunosuppressant medication this was not the ideal place to be. She did get into a room a little less than 24 hours after getting to the ER.

Second, coordination of treatment was not quite as smooth as we hoped. Although there was good communication with the ER doctor on duty to get things started, information was not clearly flowed to the hospital doctor on call. That lack of communication and the weekend kept Becky in the hospital for another four days before the PICC line was placed. It took almost another day to coordinate home health care to remove the lines once the medication was finished.

I’ll end this update on a good note. For various reasons, the hospital case manager could not find a home health care service to provide the needed services. Insurance and staffing were the main obstacles. However, it turned out that the nurse that came to train us on how to administer the IV antibiotic at home lives in our neighborhood and recognized us, well, our story, from my posts in the neighborhood Facebook group. When he found out that we were having problems finding a home health care service, he volunteered to take out the PICC line himself on his own time at the end of Becky’s treatment. There are still good people around!

Things seem to have improved. Becky's feeling better. I'm sure there are more tests and more bloodwork in Becky's future to confirm all is well. We're still learning how to navigate all the twists and turns.

In the meantime, we're going to start planning a Disney vacation!

One Year Transplantaversary

This will be a short post. I promise.

Today, November 28th, Thanksgiving Day, is Becky's one-year transplantaversary. I can't think of many things we could be more thankful for than the fact that she is here to celebrate it with us. We both continue to the thankful, grateful, and appreciative of all the support we've received over the last couple years. We feel blessed and thank God daily that a donor was found so that Becky could continue this journey with us.

We did have an awesome Thanksgiving dinner with all of our kids and grandkids, and all of Becky's brothers and their spouses. Her brother, Steve, and his wife, Peggy, flew in from California to join the celebration. Becky had no idea they were coming, and she was completely stunned when she answered the door and saw them there. It was a great day all around.

I also have some short updates on a few side-trips we've been travelling lately.

First, Becky has shoulder replacement surgery scheduled for December 12th. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the solution for all of her back/shoulder/arm pain. She also recently had an MRI and has an appointment with a spine specialist at UTSW on December 3rd. We once again ask for prayers that all goes well with the upcoming appointments, surgery, and recovery.

Second, due to some ongoing short-term memory and balance/equilibrium issues that we discussed with Becky's transplant team earlier this week, she's also being referred to a neurologist to do some further evaluation. At this point, there doesn't seem to be any major concern that warrants extreme urgency, so the initial appointment is scheduled for after the first of the year. Stay tuned. The adventure continues.

Finally, as I mentioned in the previous post, I have been working on writing articles to post on the Patient Worthy website. The first article, An Unexpected Liver Transplant – Part One, which summarizes our journey from Becky's fatty liver diagnosis to her liver failure, has been posted. My second article has been submitted for review. Please feel free to share links to these articles with whoever you think might benefit or just find it interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Transplantaversary!

Becky and Her Brothers 

Navigating the maze

As we approach Becky's one-year transplant-iversary, I really don't have much new to say about Becky's health from a transplant perspective. Her liver continues to function just as if it were her own healthy liver. The medical team is still monitoring some things related to the kidney and her white blood cell counts, but nothing too concerning. Mostly, things are quiet on the transplant front. There are a few other things that I'll mention though as we continue to navigate the (corn) maze of the recovery process.

Becky's shoulder started giving her problems a couple months ago. It's been getting progressively worse with the pain spreading across her back and numbness down her arm into her fingers. It got to the point where she's started getting more tests done. The initial X-ray showed significant arthritis. Unfortunately, most of the medications to treat the pain from this type of joint issue are off the table because of her transplants. The first doctor suggested that a shoulder replacement may be the only way to address the pain and referred us to a surgeon. At this point we started getting the transplant team involved.

In the meantime, she saw an orthopedic surgeon. When she described the pain and also mentioned she has numbness and tingling along the back of her arm and in her fingers, he suggested we slow down a bit. He was pretty confident that the arthritis would not cause those symptoms, and his office was able to get an MRI approved to see what other nerve issues maybe be at play - in addition to the arthritis. The MRI is scheduled for next week.

The UTSW medical team would prefer Becky not have surgery until at least a year after transplant, which is only a month away. I'm not sure what the actual criteria will be, but I suspect the fact that many of her blood cell counts are outside of the normal range might be a factor. We're also waiting for a final report on whether she's still fighting the CMV virus. She has a phone call with an infectious disease doctor in a couple weeks.

At the same time, the UTSW team asked if we would be OK with seeing an orthopedic doctor there instead of being treated in Georgetown. When we said we were, they started the referral process. We had an appointment on Monday. This orthopedic doctor recommended the shoulder replacement and felt additional tests regarding nerve issues could happen in parallel. Becky had a pre-op CT scan before we left Dallas, and a tentative surgery date was set for December 12th. I say tentative because the transplant medical team has to approve, and Becky is also on a cancellation wait list which could potentially move the date up (once the transplant team approves). So, our tour of UTSW facilities and doctors continues.

Oh, in the meantime, Becky was diagnosed with a UTI over the weekend. Hopefully we caught that soon enough for it to be treated without too many extra complications.

Finally, we're starting a side-trip on our little journey. This side trip currently has a couple stops that aren't at UTSW or with doctors, but they are related Becky's liver issues and transplant. Over the last several months, we come to feel strongly that we need to be sharing Becky's story to help others in whatever small way we can.

The first stop is publishing our story on a news and information web site serving patients of rare diseases - PatientWorthy.com. In fact, Patient Worthy posts patient news and stories across a whole host of social media platforms. I submitted the first of what I plan to be three articles about our journey, and it scheduled to be published soon. I think that means I'll be able to officially claim I'm a published author.

The second stop is potentially getting involved with a patient engagement company called Snow Companies as patient advocates. It's still early in that process, but it's moving forward as they review our story to determine if and how we might get involved to help other liver disease patients.

I think that's all for now. I hope so. I need to find my way out of this maze.

From the Tower to the Garden

As those of you that are Facebook friends of either of us know, we recently took a trip, an actual vacation, last weekend. This was not related to Becky’s transplant in any way. No doctors were involved. Given the balancing act we’ve been doing over the last year between doctors, family, and work, this was quite an accomplishment. That’s Balanced Rock at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs in the picture. Balancing act. Balanced Rock. Get it? Moving on...

This vacation was a dual celebration. We were not only celebrating the continued progress Becky is making in returning to her former self, but we were also celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. We spent three full days (plus travel days) in Colorado Springs. We visited Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods, and Paint Mines park.

Our last vacation was pretty much exactly three years ago. We went to South Dakota to visit Mt Rushmore, took a drive over to Wyoming to see Devil’s Tower, and had several other excursions planned. Devil’s Tower was effectively the end of our vacation as Becky fell and cracked a rib while trying to get the perfect picture. So, put a pin in this. Our last vacation included a trip to Devil’s Tower and led to an Emergency Room visit.

Soon after that vacation we started to prepare for another move. Early the next year, I had a new job back in Austin and we were selling our home in Illinois. Becky did an amazing job packing up that house. She was a warrior, spending countless hours packing boxes, donating, selling, cleaning, and everything else. At that time we had no idea that her non-alcoholic fatty liver issues would turn into complete liver failure and a dual organ transplant within the next year or so.

Now it’s three years later (from the Devil’s Tower vacation). Although I won’t be so bold as to predict this marks a complete end to Emergency Room visits, this vacation does symbolize an end of sorts to what has seemed to be an almost endless stream of doctor and ER visits over the last year. Enough so that we felt like we could plan and take this vacation. And as another mark of progress, Becky was able to do her traditional pre-vacation housecleaning without feeling completely exhausted. Ironically, or symbolically, or whatever term seems to fit, this vacation included a visit to the Garden of the Gods. And even though we both only believe in one God, it still feels like a fitting bookend for the two vacations and the last three years. Devil's Tower. Garden of the Gods. Get it? Ok, I'm just about done. 

So, here we are. Becky's getting stronger. We're figuring out what her limitations are. We're starting to recognize signs of things being a bit off - so we can try to avoid ER visits. And most importantly, we're moving on with life and enjoying time with the kids and grandkids. Thankful and grateful that she's come this far when some days it seemed like we might not ever get here.

The two biggest takeaways from this whole trip were first, Becky has been consistently feeling good enough for us to plan a vacation, and second, we made it through the entire vacation with no medical issues to report!

And here's a link to the pictures!

For those keeping track at home, we are about 2-1/2 months away from Becky’s one year transplant anniversary. What a journey it has been. Thank you for joining us on the ride.

Ups and downs continue (part 2)

Given the way things have gone over the last few weeks, it seems only fitting to use the same blog title as I used exactly one year ago. Yes, we are in a much, much, much better place than we were one year ago. However, the ups and downs do still continue. If I were to chart how Becky feels on a daily basis (physically and mentally), it would probably look something like the chart on the right. This chart isn't that. It's actually the stock market performance over the last year. But for those of you that understand how that can be an emotional roller coaster, this gives you an idea of where we're at. The good news is that much like the stock market, things are generally on an upward trend since last November. If you happen to be one of my Facebook friends, you'll understand that this plot similarity is simply coincidental correlation, not causation - i.e., Becky's health does not depend on the performance of the stock market, or vice versa.

First, some quotes from last year's blog posts around this time:

We've had our ups and downs this week.

On the plus side, her blood pressure is back up over 100.

At some point this may lead to a possible liver transplant, but for now we're just trying to address the day to day.

I suspect we have a long journey ahead.

This year, Becky's liver is functioning absolutely great. Blood work continues to show the main numbers are all within expected ranges. We're still working on getting her white and red blood cell counts up, and she's started some new treatment (injections) for that. She was also diagnosed with a couple different viruses over the last few weeks and she's back on a medication to help fight those. The transplant team has also lowered her immunosuppressant meds a bit to allow her body to help fight the viruses. This has led to the development of "donor specific antibodies" (DSAs), which is a medical term indicating her body is showing signs of rejecting the new organs (likely because the immunosuppressants were reduced). This doesn't feel like an urgent problem because they don't plan to retest for DSAs until November, but it is yet another "thing."

The new medications and/or injections also led to a drop in Becky's blood pressure. After a few days of her complaining of feeling a bit off and a little dizzy, we started monitoring her blood pressure and she was around 90-100 over 45-50. So, more adjustments to medications. And it was probably the first time Becky ever heard somebody tell her to "liberalize salt intake." We continue to do the Rx dance. Send more of this. Don't need this. Change the strength of that. Blood pressure is back up.

At this point we're rapidly approaching a year since the transplants. Hard to believe, right? We expected, and the doctors believed, that things would have pretty much smoothed out by this point. The intestinal problems and the viruses have extended that timeline a little. When I asked how typical these ups and downs are at this point, Becky's transplant coordinator said, "I agree it's been a bumpy ride." (so, not typical)

Overall, it's still an upward trajectory. We've started taking walks around the neighborhood in the evenings. Hopefully the cooler weather will allow us to continue and extend those in the coming weeks/months.

Thanks again to all those that continue to pray, support and inquire.

(Last year's blog post: Ups and down continue) 

One Year Later

This week marks a couple milestones in the Clark household. July 21st was our 40th wedding anniversary, and July 25th is the one-year mark of our first trip to the emergency room for Becky's liver issues. She had over eight liters of fluid drained from her abdomen on that day as her liver was already well into the cirrhosis stage. One year later it's interesting to look back at my first post:

I wasn't sure if this had something to do with her liver - although I suspected it did. 

[T]he fluid buildup will probably continue to be a problem.

We had no idea of the road ahead. Well, primarily, we had no idea of the speed that we would be travelling down that road. Unfortunately, neither did Becky's hepatologist, so we were completely unprepared for most of the speed bumps, detours, and roundabouts we came to along the way. Several studies that I've read suggest that an average rate of progression through the various stages of liver disease is about 7 years per stage. Becky went from the first stage, NASH (non-alcohol-related steatohepatitis), through fibrosis and cirrhosis, and finally to end-stage liver disease in a matter of months. Our heads were spinning.

One measure of the health of a liver that has started to show signs of fibrosis is something called a MELD score. The MELD score is a standard calculation primarily based on several numbers from blood work that indicate the overall health of the liver. This score is used to give an estimate of the patient's expected three-month survival rate, as well as being used to prioritize the patient on a transplant list. Once Becky was admitted to the ICU in Dallas last November, her MELD score quickly rose into the 30's, which would suggest an average three-month survival rate without a transplant. As fast as things had already progressed last year, I suspect that would have been a generous estimate. Fortunately, Becky received that transplant in November, and we can move on to a more uplifting part of the story.

In contrast to a year ago, or even a few months ago, events continue to remind us of the progress Becky has made on her recovery: 

• A few weeks ago, Becky bought groceries for her brother and left them on his porch as he was dealing with another round of COVID - a sign that she's not just surviving but is back to being able to take care of others.
• We also had a chance to babysit our newest grandbaby a couple weeks ago, and we tried to have three of the grandkids spend the night a week ago until we had an outbreak of strep throat in the house. Side note: Everybody, including Becky, is on the road to recovery from that.
• I was able to flex my work schedule so we could go to a minor league baseball game on July 3rd. We stayed for the whole game and enjoyed the post-game 4th of July fireworks show. This might have been the first time since last summer that I was able to flex my work schedule for fun and not to make up for doctor visits, hospital stays, or time at one of the various emergency rooms we've had the opportunity to visit.
• Becky has been able to do more cooking - for just the two of us as well as for the kids when they come over to visit.
• We were able to make a short trip to Oklahoma to visit my dad over the July 4th weekend.

Another sign that we've turned the corner from unpredictable trips to the emergency room and unexpected hospital stays to a more regular routine is that we are seriously considering making a short trip in the near future to relax and celebrate our 40th anniversary! It feels great to be planning instead of reacting!

A lot has happened in a year, but we really do feel like we're finally getting back to something closer to normal. The doctors are still adjusting meds. We're still learning that Becky doesn't have the stamina that she used to. We both plan to start some regular exercising and walking. We're working towards a goal of being able to take the kids and grandkids to Disney in the next year or so, so we both need to get in better shape. All of that is certainly more encouraging than seeing if we can string together a couple weeks without a trip to the ER or hospital.

In closing, I have to once again say thank you to all the prayer warriors out there that helped us through this journey. We don't even know some of you. You may have heard Becky's story from somebody at work or church or from another of our family members, and you joined her fight through prayer. Whatever brought you into our story, we feel you. We appreciate each and every one of you more than you will ever know.

Something Old, Something New

Just when it felt like the road was leveling out a little and things were getting a bit more predictable, we run into another pothole. Becky started having abdominal pain again early Saturday morning (June 8th). The pain got progressively worse during the day, and she started throwing up as well. By late afternoon we were headed to the emergency room. After a short stay at the ER and whole battery of tests, the diagnosis was another small bowel obstruction (SBO). So, there's the something old.

After the Seton medical team looped in the team from UTSW, they decided the best option would be to transfer Becky to Dallas for further evaluation and treatment. After a few hours, more than enough time to drive to Dallas, the logistics were in place to fly Becky from Austin to Dallas by AirMed. Yep, that's why I chose that picture for this post, and that's the something new. Becky was a little disappointed that she didn't get a helicopter ride, but I imagine the plane trip was more comfortable than riding 2-3 hours in the back of an ambulance.

By the time the team at UTSW ran some of their own tests, the obstruction was no longer there. It wasn't quite magic. It's likely that the tube that they placed in Becky's stomach at Seton to drain fluid did its job, and by relieving the pressure in her system, the obstruction was able to break free. I've learned a lot about the possible causes of SBOs and it turns out that they are much more likely after any abdominal surgery. Counting the recent transplant, and follow up surgeries, Becky has had at least eight surgeries in and around her abdomen. Each of those contribute scar tissue which is one of the leading causes of SBOs.

Becky and I hung out in Dallas for a couple more days while they monitored things to make sure the SBO was truly gone. She also received an infusion of iron and a blood transfusion, both of which we had been trying to coordinate the logistics of making happen in Georgetown/Austin. So, not a completely wasted trip. Becky got some needed medical care, and we learned a little more about what to look for the next time she's having stomach pain.

Onward we go.

Six Month Transplant Survivor

Wow! Just wow! It’s hard to believe it’s been six months since Becky’s liver and kidney transplant! As I’ve said many times, the road has certainly not been straight or easy. There have been many bumps and detours and roundabouts. The latest adventure is actually a crack in the road. More on that later. For now, fair warning that this blog post will be a bit longer than most.

The road has actually been considerably smoother and manageable lately. In my last post I mentioned that we were starting to track a new trend… normal work weeks without trips to the Emergency Room or hospital. Well, unfortunately that trend didn’t hold for very long. Within a week Becky was back at the ER and spent a couple days in the hospital with another bout of stomach/GI issues. After a phone call to a UTSW Pharmacist, we determined the most likely cause was a recently added iron pill. Pulling that back out of Becky’s daily med list put her back on the smoother road.

Then we came to a crack in the road. Overall, Becky had been feeling pretty good compared to previous months. In fact, she felt so good that she decided to take a good soak in the bathtub. It had been over six months since she had the strength to get in and out of the tub. And just as we were thinking this was another milestone on the road to recovery, Becky heard a crack while she was leaning over the edge and cleaning the tub. Nope, it wasn’t the bathtub. It was her rib. She re-injured one of the same ribs she cracked twice before in the last three years. We’re still waiting on the official results of the X-ray, but whether cracked or bruised, there’s no question it hurts. On the plus side, it was a short trip to the ER to make sure there wasn’t anything else to be concerned about - not that a rib injury isn’t enough, but it was right where the liver is, so we wanted to be sure.

So, again, things are much better. In fact, we were able to join the Eichinger family (Becky's mom's family) at the annual family reunion on Sunday. It was another reminder of how much has happened in the last year. At the time of last year's reunion, Becky was just beginning to show signs that her non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was progressing into something more. Her first trip to the Emergency Room for a paracentesis to drain her ascites fluid building up because of her failing liver was still a couple months away. After that the disease progressed into liver failure, the liver failure damaged the kidneys, Becky spent a month in the ICU waiting for a donor, she received a donated liver and kidney, and then spent another couple weeks in ICU recovering plus another month in the hospital and rehab before finally coming home. And of course, the recovery has continued for the last few months at home. What a whirlwind!

We are still working on how to manage a few things. Becky's iron level continues to be low, and her kidney numbers (primarily the creatinine) continue to be a little high. We've been working with the team at UTSW to try to come up with ways to manage both of those with resources and facilities here in the Georgetown/Austin area rather than having to continue making trips to Dallas or to the local ER. We have another round of regular checkup appointments in Dallas this week and hope to get more good news there.

Overall, the road keeps getting a little smoother and little more predictable every week. Becky is starting to catch up on appointments that she's missed over the last six months. Well, both of us are. We went to the eye doctor over the weekend. Becky's vision changed quite a bit as a result of all the stress on her body. As for me, I've started to develop cataracts and at least one is getting close to being ready to remove. Yay! Dentist appointments and other annual checkups are in the works. It's all part of getting ready for a trip to Disney World with the kids and grandkids sometime in the not-too-distant future. I think we both feel that will be the point where we can say the bulk of the stress, the pain, the struggle, and everything else is behind us.

One final note for this post. If I haven't mentioned it before, and I probably have to at least some of you, I do plan to convert this blog into a book at some point. I'm not quite sure what the plot will be yet, other than the obvious, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. Becky has said she wants to write the forward of that book when I get that far.

And I couldn't close this out without saying it again, thank you to all of you that have been and continue to be prayer warriors throughout this journey. The journey continues...

Eichinger Family Cousins

The Lego Road

A couple of you have asked recently how Becky is doing. You've noticed that I haven't posted an update lately. You may be wondering what road we're on this week. What if I told you that the photo I picked for this post is a Lego chain reaction my grandson and I spent a few hours creating last weekend (not quite a Rube Goldberg machine, but close)? Would that give you a clue? 

If you haven't connected the dots, the fact that I had a few hours to spend some quality time working on a project just for the fun of it is a sign that things have improved ... a lot. Last weekend ended what had been a streak of four consecutive weekends that we spent time in an emergency room or hospital, sometimes for days and once for an entire week. It seems that finally, fortunately, somewhat surprisingly, and almost amazingly, Becky seems to have turned the proverbial corner. And although we had a little bit of a setback with a midweek med mix-up (Becky's transplant coordinator's fault, not ours), we haven't been to a hospital or ER for two full weeks. Shh, not too loud. Now we're starting a new streak - a streak of weeks with no hospital time and where I work a fairly normal schedule. Yes, I'm knocking on wood as I write this.

Instead of spending time in a hospital last weekend, we had some family time with all the kids and grandkids enjoying a belated birthday lunch for Becky at Longhorn Steakhouse. We had more family time on the days before and after (including Lego building), and we're looking forward to more this weekend. Becky's nausea and GI issues finally seem to be under control. As a result, her appetite is improving almost daily. Thank God! Literally ... we thank God!

Becky even felt good enough this week to have lunch with her brother and cousin, set up an appointment with physical therapy, and shop for some new clothes (since she's lost about a third of her body weight in the last six months).

So, there you have it. Becky's doing better and we're praying the trend continues. Is the journey over? No, far from it. Are we on a better road? Yep, it feels like we're finally off the gravel road out in the country where there were no road signs to guide us, and back on pavement (pavement built with Legos).

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you that have been prayer warriors with and for us. We appreciate you more than you'll ever know. 

P.S. Don't close the book. The story's not over. We just feel like we're starting the next chapter.

 

Trending

[4/19: Updated update below in green]

The trend continues. More bumps in the road, or left turns, or detours, or whatever. I’m running out of analogies. The bottom line is this is the fourth weekend in a row that we’ve been in the Emergency Room and/or hospital.

After getting treated for the cat bite a couple weeks ago, things kinda went downhill the rest of the next week. Becky was feeling kind of “off.” We had a previously scheduled appointment at UTSW on that Thursday, April 4th. By the time we got there, Becky was feeling a little light-headed, her kidney numbers were elevated, and she had had a couple, what I’ll call “minor,” hallucinations. The combination resulted in another stay at the UT Southwestern Inn & Suites (aka, hospital, to most people).

Unfortunately, we’re starting to be able to predict the routine. Becky was subjected to after another round of tests, blood draws, scans, questions, more blood draws, more questions, and a few days of observation. In the end the diagnosis was that Becky’s s system was not dealing well with the combination of a recently added transplant medication and the two antibiotics originally prescribed post laparoscopy and then extended/updated after the cat bite - in addition to the 13 other regular medications she’s taking. The antibiotics were stopped, the new med was reduced in strength, and one other regular med was switched. After all that, Becky was released on Monday and felt better for most of last week.

Yes, “most” of the week ... right up until Friday, her birthday. The week started off pretty good. She was doing chauffeur duty for grandkids while Brian was in Dallas for work. She started feeling bad on Friday. On Saturday, she stayed in bed late because she was extra tired - which was not-unexpected with all her activity during the week. But then she started complaining of chest pains, similar to but stronger than those that led to the laparoscopic procedure a couple weeks ago.

So, not wanting to mess around with chest pains, we decided to visit the Seton ER in Round Rock on Saturday afternoon. After more tests, the decision was to admit Becky to the hospital for two reasons. One, her kidney numbers were once again elevated. IV fluids overnight have already brought those numbers back in line. Two, there was some indication there may be some fluid around her heart. Orders were placed for an echocardiogram to get a better look. The echocardiogram was negative. A stress test was scheduled for Monday morning (although not completed until Tuesday). The stress test showed some potential blockage. A subsequent CTA (CT scan with contrast) determined there was no blockage and her heart was fine. On to the next test, an EGD (endoscopy, upper GI scope) today, Friday, the 19th, showed Becky has gastritis and a hiatal hernia - both of which could be contributing to her pain and discomfort, and are easily treatable. We’re waiting to talk to a doctor about next steps.

I’ll end this post by copying my Facebook post from Friday...

Happy birthday to the love of my life! It's been one heck of a year. If somebody would have told me last year that you would be a five month transplant survivor on this birthday, I never would have believed them. We compressed an amazing amount of emotion, stress, joy, uncertainty, hope, pain, anxiety, relief, heartache, worry, thankfulness ... and emergency room visits ... into one year. In hindsight, as hectic as it was, I'm glad it didn't drag on. I'm incredibly thankful you're here for this milestone birthday, and look forward to having you around for many more. Love you. Now and forever.

Praying that the medical team is able to determine the source or Becky’s ongoing chest/GI pain so we can break the pattern of weekend hospital time. It’s really cutting into our time with the grandkids.

Bluebonnet Update!

It’s only been a couple weeks since the last post, but it feels like so much has happened. Spoiler alert for those that just want the bottom line. As we travelled the Texas highways and enjoyed the bluebonnets over the past couple weeks, I think we’ve finally turned a corner and ended up in a better place as far as Becky’s GI issues go.

After we left the UTSW hospital a couple weeks ago, it didn’t take long for things to take another turn for the worse. Although Becky felt OK when we left, by the end of last week she was feeling pretty bad. The stomach pain had progressed from the usual nausea to a more acute pain and higher up on her abdomen. After a call to the transplant team on Friday, they suggested we return to the hospital in Dallas.

The good news is that the CT scan showed something they hadn’t seen before. There appeared to be something going on with her small intestine. The team decided to take a better look with a laparoscopic procedure and found part of Becky’s intestine had adhered to her abdomen in such a way that it was causing a partial obstruction. They were able to detach it laparoscopically and kept her in the hospital a couple days for observation. She came home Tuesday after a couple uneventful days and a few more med changes.

I felt that we had finally turned a corner. Becky was finally feeling a little better. She was enjoying seeing the bluebonnets and getting out of the house for things other than going to a hospital or emergency room.

Then our cat decided she wanted some blog time. Well, she really wanted some affection Friday morning while hanging out in bed with Becky, and when she didn’t get it, she bit Becky’s finger ... hard. A few hours later, her finger was getting a little red, was sore, and a little swollen. So after yet another series of phone calls with the transplant team, we ended up in another emergency room. We left with a change one of the antibiotics Becky was already on as a result of last weekend’s procedure, and instructions to keep the wound clean and keep a close eye on it. At this point, it seems to be improving so we’re enjoying some Easter weekend time with family.

I’m sure there will be more corners, more hidden valleys, and more pit stops along the road. Hopefully we can reduce the frequency of these emergency room side trips and stay the course to a more full recovery.

Happy Easter! Remember what we’re really celebrating!

Greetings from the “Big D”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Dallas. A planned overnight trip to Dallas for a couple early morning appointments on Friday turned into a (hopefully short) stay at the UTSW Clements University Hospital. With a little Irish luck, which our genealogical research surprisingly shows Becky would be more likely to tap into than I would, this will be a short detour on her transplant journey.

Over the last few weeks, a couple different issues have cropped up. First, there were a few lab numbers that the medical team wanted to follow up on. That led to appointments for “special labs” to verify there were no rejection related antibodies and an ultrasound to verify the kidney still looked okay. Second, Becky’s nausea and other GI issues have ratcheted up a notch to more severe stomach pain and cramping.

After we left the early morning appointments, we headed to the car so Becky could take her meds before we got on the road home. She wasn’t able to keep them down. The transplant team had repeatedly reminded us of the importance of these meds and had told us to go to the emergency room if that became a regular problem. Since this has happened a few times over the past couple weeks and we were right here at UTSW anyway, we decided to head over to the emergency department. After some initial conversations between the emergency department and transplant team, they decided to admit Becky to the hospital to see if we could get some answers.

The good news is that all the extra tests, ultrasounds, and bloodwork that have been done over the past couple days continue to show the liver and kidney are still working well, and there are no signs of rejection, infection, or other major problems. That’s all good.

The results related to Becky’s GI issues are less clear. The most probable theory is that Becky’s system is extra sensitive to one of the anti-rejection drugs. It’s known to cause nausea and similar issues, and since she has a history of reflux and IBS on a good day, adding this and the other laundry list of drugs may just be extra hard on her system. For those that were in the loop for her last emergency room visit in Austin a week or so ago, that diagnosis of splenic infarction as the cause of her stomach pain has been ruled out. There was evidence of that condition pre-transplant and it is not likely to be the cause of her current problems.

At this point, midday Sunday, the medical team has reduced the strength of the suspect medication and is scheduling an endoscopy for Monday to see if there are any other issues going on. That means another day/night in Dallas, but waiting for an appointment as an outpatient could mean waiting until May or June. So we’ll hang out in Dallas for another day. It’s been a roller coaster and Becky’s tired of feeling “sick.” She’d like to get some answers, even if those answers are simply ruling out another underlying medical cause, and I have to agree with her.

One final note ... One good indication that, in spite of the GI issues, Becky’s feeling better overall and getting back to herself is that she had her own list of questions on her phone for the doctor today. :-)

Your continued thoughts, prayers, and kind words of support are heard, felt, and appreciated.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!