my soap opera...

Sometime between now and the end of this year I was supposed to be tested to see if I’m a match to be a kidney donor for my dad. It was going to be perfect timing because I take a lot of vacation days in November and December, so I would have plenty of time to do the full work up. Then if I was a match, we can go ahead and do the surgery next year.

Of course that plan is now halted. Nothing ever goes the way it’s planned. Before my dad can become a kidney recipient, he has to pass all of these test and get approval from several doctors. So I wasn’t surprised when I was told my dad has to go in for an angiogram to get approval from the heart doctor. Unfortunately, there is something abnormal with his heart so they have to find out what it is. That could result from doctors doing nothing to putting in a stint or opening up his chest for heart surgery.

The good news is everything is done at once. So dad has to have the angiogram. If doctors see nothing he goes home. If doctors see he just needs a stint, they will do it right there and then. That also means he’ll have a longer hospital stay. If doctors see he needs something more, then they wait for our approval; do the surgery and a longer hospital stay.

The bad news is I have to plan for all three scenarios which has kept me pretty busy lately. For those who don’t know my dad is the worst patient ever. So about 20% of my time is spent on health-related issues. If it isn’t one thing it’s another. Sometimes I feel like my life is a soap opera between family, men and work…I just hope I’ll be able to make some money off of it.