Part 6
Pre-Transplant
2nd Journey
The first thing I noticed was the itching..Johnnie was itching alot, so I rubbed the cream the his dermatologist prescribed for him. He had contracted some kind of skin rash that was itchy, flaky and irritating. The drs ran all sorts of test and even took a biopsy, but the results were negative for skin cancer. This skin rash had been going on and off for some time, so we weren't really concerned.
The next thing I noticed was Johnnie's eyes appeared to be turning yellow, so I said to him "Your eyes looked yellow:, Johnnie said well i've been using my eye drops (for glacoma) and maybe thats why they are yellow. So, I told him ok, I tell you what, stop taking the eye drops for a few days and lets see if the yellow goes away. Johnnie said ok.
A few days later, he was even more yellow than before. I said "Baby, I think there is something wrong". Johnnie was scheduled to begin his Post-Transplant Evaluation in a few days, so we decided to wait until then.
When we arrived, at the Mayo Clinic the drs were alarmed. They began running all sorts of test. A "Transjugular Liver Biopsy" showed no rejection.
As the days went by Johnnie got worse, the drs weren't finding anything abnormal with the test results. But I knew deep down inside that my husband was dying. So, on Friday Oct. 12, I decided to take Johnnie in to the ER. They admitted him immediately.
Ok..In a nut shell, the drs discovered, that the Hepatitis C Virus, had agressively attacted the Liver and the Liver was having a hard time dealing with it. Johnnie's "Bilirubin" levels were 45 and climbing. The drs also discovered that his Kidney's weren't doing so well either, so they are considering a Liver & Kidney Transplant.
OCTOBER 24, 2007
At first, the doctors where sure that Johnnie was going to need a Liver & Kidney Transplant. However, with prayers and the doctors contniued treatment plan Johnnie pulled through. He spent 2 weeks in the hospital and was released.
