Friday, March 6, 2009

The bad and the good...

Well, the results are in. The bad news is that Brandon has to have a liver transplant. The good news is that, they will do a liver transplant. The doctors in St. Louis had it narrowed down to two different diseases. (I can't remember the long name of either one of them). One disease would attack a new liver and there would be nothing they could do. The other disease is cureable with a transplant. Fortunately, his is the curable kind. Brandon is now on the long list of individuals waiting for a liver transplant. Fortunately, because of his age and otherwise good health, he is NEAR the top. They are hoping to get a 100% match. His bilirubin is at a 33. It should be under 10 but it can go up to 100. If it gets that high, they will put him in ICU and take the first and closest match for a liver that they can get. Until a match is found, he is trying to lead a normal life. Beside the itching and the jaundice, he feels okay. He is getting weak though as he continues to lose weight.

I am giving a speech at a Toastmasters event on Tuesday night. My speech is on donating life. I wish everyone would realize how important it is to be an organ and tissue donor. My cousin Derek passed away at such a young age but he also helped so many people simply because he was an organ/tissue donor. I am not sure how it came to be that someone in our family donated and now we are in dier need for a donor. If you haven't done so already, please join this great cause. We don't know when our time to go is, but hopefully if we go too early, we will prevent someone else from leaving this world sooner than they should. My speech on Tuesday night will hopefully spread this important message. http://www.donatelife.net/

I apologize for the delay in getting this updated. My computer back light stopped working so I couldn't see any of the information on the screen. I ordered a new computer and that is what I am using now to update my blog. I LOVE it. It is a Dell Studio in 'Spring Green'. :) This computer will be so great for photo editing! Now... I just have to start taking some more photos!!! Laura... now that I have a computer again, I will get the photos from Kaelynns baptism done by the end of next week!

To leave things on a good note, I applied for a new job at the State Farm Research Center which is located on the U of I campus in Champaign. I got the position! I couldn't be MORE EXCITED! This is a great opportunity for me. Twenty people applied for this position and I am thrilled that I was the one selected. I start part time on March 16th and I will move to full time the following week. I can't wait to get started!

2 comments:

The Wietholder's said...

Congrats on the new job! I had no idea you had applied. Will you be driving to Champaign everyday?

Perez said...

Congratulations on the new job.

Sorry to hear about your cousin, that's horrible. Hopefully someone's unfortunate bad day will turn into Brandon's good day. I also hope that didn't sound bad.

As for donating life, I've been signed up as an organ donor since I was 16.