Do you have a liver transplant story?

I want to hear! Are you waiting for a liver transplant or are you looking into medical tourism? If so, I want to know your experiences. Share your story so we can help educate Americans with the options they may have.

Did you experience a liver transplant in the US? Were you a live donor? How was your experience? Inquiring minds want to know.

We need your input

It's been a little over 2 weeks since our father's passing and we continue to be deeply saddened yet very thankful he is no longer suffering. Neysa and I know the value of the trip we took with our father and we spent priceless times with him during this entire process. We greatly appreciate all the gifts, cards and donations that have been given. You have given our family strength and we love the stories you've shared. We remember our father (brother, uncle, friend, significant other, grandpa, x-husband, father-in-law and all others) and all the happy times he gave all of us. We miss him dearly.

If you would like to give the gift of life, I've added a link to update your organ donor status on the right side of this blog.

My intention for this blog is to educate people all over the world about liver transplants and I hope that it will continue to do this. I don't want people to be discouraged by our story because I know if we had it to do over again we would. We look back at our options without health insurance and I'm sure our family would chose Medical Tourism over and over again.

So now it's your turn, what would you like to know in this blog and how can I continue to help people who are in need of an organ transplant?

We're Going to be Indian Movie Stars!

Firs of all surgery has been postponed until next Tuesday but as we have learned, nothing is set in stone. So we are just patiently waiting.
For some reason my internet connection and connection with SKYPE has been impossible. I hope that will change. I'll ask today what the problem is. I'm borrowing a computer in the e-library today. There are Doctors waiting in line for everyone to finish here. So, I'll make this brief...
Yesterday a few reporters from an Indian tv station came in and interviewed us for a documentary they are doing on Medical Tourism. They asked dad a few questions and followed us down the hall for some "action" shots. Dad was hoping he wouldn't lose his pants (as he often does) while we were walking. He's gotten so skinny that there's nothing left to hold the pants up. I'm telling you, they need to make "maternity" pants for men. It might be helpful!
Anyways, after answering questions and walking down the hall for action shots dad took a nice nap. He says "it's hard being a movie star"! I gave the two reporter women my business cards and asked them to email me when the documentary becomes available. (I was hoping they would check out my Slumber Parties website too-I'll get some hits from India Kelly;)
We are reading your updates daily. Even though we can't log into the website to narrate we can still read it and make comments. Dad looks forward to hearing from everyone daily.

Today was the day

Our journey started a few months ago when we found out my father needed a liver transplant ASAP. We looked for medical insurance here in the United States and were unable to find anything that would cover him quickly. My father is self-employed and has been for a long time so he doesn't have health care in place. He also has Cirrhosis of the liver which is considered a pre-existing condition.
Finally we looked into "medical tourism" and found www.worldmedassist.com which is a program based in CA that connects people like us with doctors overseas. We have gone through the process and approved for the program and I have been chosen to be the donor for my father. WorldMed Assist allows us to do a liver transplant if we have a blood related, living donor to provide half of their liver. Luckily the liver regenerates itself quickly in both myself and my father.
So today was the day we were scheduled to leave to New Dehli, India and we received a phone call from Wouter at WorldMed Assist on Saturday telling us that the doctor can't do surgery on us until the beginning of April. Although it was a big surprise, it's great we knew before we made the trip and had to hang out at the hospital for another 2 weeks. We already have to be there 2 weeks early to do testing for surgery.