Long story short:
-Father having more and more complications due to Hepatitis C. Liver expected to fail soon.
-Father VERY low on list to get a transplant (due to age, weight, other factors)
-He went back into the hospital tonight for more complications.
My stepmom just called me and told me what's going on. She then also told me that the doctors are recomending that my father find a "living donor" to give part of their liver, as he has very little chance of qualifying for one before his current fails completely. I said yes, I'd do anything I could (I'm a compatible blood type and being a direct genetic relation helps a lot) but I'm still pretty freaked out right now. I'll know more when I get back from drill on Sunday night (his test results come back about 2 hours after I leave for the field training this weekend).
One thing that scares me though, as a military person they place emphasis on having (for lack of a better word) "no defects." Does anyone in the military know if this is going to make me non-eligible for my enlistment anymore? I know that they have medical leave that will go up to 6 months, and my step mother told me that it would take about 6 months to heal back to my full liver. If I have to go under the knife I hope I won't have to give up my career as a Marine
UPDATE: I just talked to my dad at the hospital. They won't start doing the surgery until the spring, so I've got a few months. His insurance will cover him 70% at the moment, but hopefully it will raise to 100% like a kidney transplant soon (the live donor transplant is still fairly new). They're trying to cure his Hepatitis C with his old liver still in before putting the new one in, but if it does not get completely cured then the doctors already know which medications NOT to put him on (those that they tried before and got bad results from). I may also be moving down to Texas to be with them. I was at my drill center today asking what would happen, and could not get a definite response from the Navy people that were in the medical center, I'll have to ask the actual Marines when I go in on Friday. My dad is very low on the transplant list and the doctors really don't want to give him a liver from a cadaver due to possible rejection and unknown previous history. At that point the doctors were back in the room and he had to hang up so he could get a transfusion and some meds. Will update more when I know more.
-Father having more and more complications due to Hepatitis C. Liver expected to fail soon.
-Father VERY low on list to get a transplant (due to age, weight, other factors)
-He went back into the hospital tonight for more complications.
My stepmom just called me and told me what's going on. She then also told me that the doctors are recomending that my father find a "living donor" to give part of their liver, as he has very little chance of qualifying for one before his current fails completely. I said yes, I'd do anything I could (I'm a compatible blood type and being a direct genetic relation helps a lot) but I'm still pretty freaked out right now. I'll know more when I get back from drill on Sunday night (his test results come back about 2 hours after I leave for the field training this weekend).
One thing that scares me though, as a military person they place emphasis on having (for lack of a better word) "no defects." Does anyone in the military know if this is going to make me non-eligible for my enlistment anymore? I know that they have medical leave that will go up to 6 months, and my step mother told me that it would take about 6 months to heal back to my full liver. If I have to go under the knife I hope I won't have to give up my career as a Marine
UPDATE: I just talked to my dad at the hospital. They won't start doing the surgery until the spring, so I've got a few months. His insurance will cover him 70% at the moment, but hopefully it will raise to 100% like a kidney transplant soon (the live donor transplant is still fairly new). They're trying to cure his Hepatitis C with his old liver still in before putting the new one in, but if it does not get completely cured then the doctors already know which medications NOT to put him on (those that they tried before and got bad results from). I may also be moving down to Texas to be with them. I was at my drill center today asking what would happen, and could not get a definite response from the Navy people that were in the medical center, I'll have to ask the actual Marines when I go in on Friday. My dad is very low on the transplant list and the doctors really don't want to give him a liver from a cadaver due to possible rejection and unknown previous history. At that point the doctors were back in the room and he had to hang up so he could get a transfusion and some meds. Will update more when I know more.
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