Pre Flight

We checked our bags, pre flight -- zero hour

The Very Abbreviated Backstory....
I have been just fired (laid off, sorta) from my job at NewTek, and I am the obvious person in our very small family to go act as caregiver for my Vietnam-vet Uncle. I'm writing all of this blog using notes I took during the ordeal in the hopes that someone may read it, and it may inform them as to what's up with Liver Transplant patients whose orders originate in Temple, TX. Also, I want to get the chronology clear in my mind as to what happened. Over a month later, I am still confused as to the order of events, and I think that sorting through all my notes will help me figure out what actually happened.

So Today....
Spoke with Gordon Wells via telephone. He explained how things would go. We will be sent to Portland, OR for an evaluation week. If things go well, my uncle would be approved for a liver transplant and placed on the transplant list. If things didn't go well... it would just be over.

He would be subject to a slew (for you non-Texans, that's a "shit load") of tests that would determine his eligibility.

We leave on Sunday, March 28 for our first stop in Dallas. The flight will depart San Antonio at 11:42. We should arrive in Portland some time around 9PM, where we are to call the VA Admissions Office and they will call RadioCab to take us to the Liver Lodge in Vancouver, WA, a communal assisted living barracks where liver patients stay while they are evaluated or after transplant surgery.

The Lodging unit was C-13, and comes equipped with 2 beds, a fridge/freezer, TV, closets / dresser, and a small table. There will be only one phone for about a dozen residents, and two communal bathrooms, so Gordon said we should bring a robe if we wanted to take a shower. Bring travellers' checks, a bank card, sweaters, a rain coat, medications, etc. There will be a shuttle to take us from the quarters/clinic to the hospital, about 12 miles away in Portland. 7:20AM is the first run of the shuttle, and we should be on it on Monday morning to start the fun. Gary would be admitted to the hospital on Monday morning to complete the testing as an in-patient, and I would stay at the Lodge to act as his caregiver on a daily basis.