Comparing the U.S procedure to India

I'm finding some good stuff on Facebook about people who need livers and people who have donated. I'm hoping I can compare some stories of people who have been a liver donors and find out what their experience has been in the U.S. When I was searching for information and learning about becoming a donor I wanted to know what a liver donors actual day-to-day life was like. I hope I have provided that in this blog, but there is something missing. I really wanted to see what the procedure was like here in the U.S.

I'll keep you posted

Insurance is on the way!

We're hoping to have my dad's insurance in place by April 1st. I called the University of Colorado hospital the other day and talked to a social worker there named Fabi Imo. She works in the transplant department and has been very helpful in answering my questions. This time I called to ask if they would consider a live donor once the insurance kicked in. She said Kaiser has a program to cover live donors, but she had to go to an appointment. I'm still wondering how long the process would take if we had to start all over here in the US.
As of today we are leaving to India on the 17th so as long as that goes as planned, we will continue in that path. If we are delayed any more I think our first step will be to make an appointment on April 1st with Kaiser. Then Kaiser has to make a referral to a gastroenterologist and then to the transplant center at the University of Colorado Hospital. Who knows how long that will take and whether or not we would have to start all of our testing over again or if they would accept the tests we have already completed.

I saw my dad today and he is very bloated again from the ascites. He plans on going in to the emergency room again this Sunday to get drained. He has been going in to get drained about every 7-10 days because he gets very uncomfortable. He goes to the emergency room because he doesn't have insurance that will cover the draining. The emergency room doesn't expect payment upfront and I don't think they can turn him away. The procedure is costly and every time he goes in to get drained the bill is about $3,000. In the past they have been draining about 6 L of fluid out of his abdomen. Today he was very tired and said he woke up this morning and had breakfast and then went back to sleep. Then he went out for about 2 hours and was exhausted by the time he got home. We read an article about medical tourism today and I left so he could rest.

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.