Meeting the transplant team in Seattle

So much information is given (four hours worth). Well, they explained the process of blood typing and the the different kinds of list he can go on. There is the "normal" list and then theres a list that if Im not compatible to him I can be to someone else and we can "swap" kidneys, interesting and encouraging. You can't be on the list until you are at 20% failure, well Steve was at 19% last month. Where do we go from here? He has to finish getting dental work done and cleared by his dentist, colonoscopy, nuclear stress test (he had an abnormal ekg)and then his case will go in front of the transplant team and they have to "approve" him that he is a good candidate. Once this is done he goes on the list... Woo-hoo so excite! Will post what his test results are when they come back on Monday. They took twenty tubes of blood and they did his blood type and his tissue too!
Thanks for the love and support!

Septemeber Update

Steve went to his nephrologist two days ago and got an update on his kidney function. In the past 6 weeks he has lost 4% function and is now down to 19% kidney function left.Thats a lot of function in a short amount of time (for him anyway). We go to Swedish Medical Center October 22 (Destiny's 17th birthday)and get the testing going for his transplant. I dont know how long this takes or any other information. This will be his first transplant appointment and we will be asking many questions.
Thanks for all the love and prayers.

Steves update

Last week we went to his nephrologist to get results from his labs. He is stable right now and the doc says he may even have an extra month or so, but on the flip side she said he could fail in 2 weeks. We received a letter from Aetna that they will pay for all testing, traveling, housing (when there) and most important his transplant. What a blessing.
He has always wanted to see Garth Brooks in concert so for his birthday (next month) I took him to Vegas to go see him. We went with Johnna and Tom (big part of our support team) and his brother met us up there. He is the one that is recovering from his transplant, we enjoyed him tons!
Thanks for all the love and support it helps and means a lot :o)

Got a call from the transplant team

The transplant team from Swedish Medical called Steve to let him know that they are getting approval from Aetna and will call back with an appointment to start testing tissue,blood type,check his heart and psycological. They are really booked and wont be able to get him in until September. Seems like we keep getting pushed back.
Thanks and keep praying.

Steve's Journey

Polycystic Kidney Disease, this is what is causing Steve to need a new kidney. It's hereditary. Steve was told last month that by December of 2010 he will either need a transplant or be on dialysis. At this point we are doing all we can do to live a "normal" life but yet prepare for this trying time. As we get more news on when and where we will post. At this time we have chosen to go through Swedish Medical in Seattle. We are waiting for the paperwork to come to us from the transplant team. Unfortunately we are a month behind as his doctor originally sent his information to the transplant team at another hospital that our insurance did not cover. So, here we are starting all over again and we are about a month behind :o(. Once this happens he will start getting tested to see what his blood type is so we can see if we are a match for him or anyone willing to donate or when he gets one from an unknown donor. Lots of testing and classes ahead for us in the near future. I'm posting a picture of what his kidneys look like although its not his kidneys it a picture from the mayoclinic.com.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.