Joe is Home!

Joe came home last night - only 10 days post op! He is feeling pretty good, but still uncomfortable.

Please remember that you need to be in great health to come visit - he would love to have visitors!

Here are some of his restrictions:

No travel for a year

No crowds (i.e. church, eating out) for 4-6 weeks

For the next 6-8 weeks, we could really use some help with the following:

- staying with him during the day as he needs someone to be with him 24/7 (we are able to cover a lot of this as a family but have some gaps). Please contact Fay if you can help out.

- driving him to lab work (no driving for 4 weeks)

- meals

THANKFUL!

Last night Sophia (Joe's oldest grandchild, age 8) prayed this:

"Thank you God for what happened on Friday. It was just a great day for our whole family!"

Day 3 Post Op

The following is an update from Elizabeth:

I went to see him last night. His color is much better - eyes not nearly as yellow, cheeks and lips are red like a healthy person, tan color, not yellow. He is more alert execpt when he gets pain meds - dozes right away for that but as he awakens he continues the conversation where he left off.

Yesterday he had liquids. Perhaps today solid foods. They are assessing his ability to tolerate things and also looking for digestive functions to return.

He called this AM at 6 - I thought something terrible had happened that they were calling so early! He was lifted into a chair and sitting up for the first time - he called, not the staff. He had to have 4 lines removed to make that happen and the attending was called to the ER too often to get it done earlier yesterday. Now it's done.

Dr. Maley, surgeon, came in while I was there. He was very pleased with the progress. Said liver labs will be normal within 2 days. Normal MELD score is 6 and he expects that in 2 days - can you believe it? (his MELD score got up to 35 and 40 is the highest possible)

Mom counted over 80 staples. No dressing. He showed me the staples without being prompted. I guess it's his version of battle wounds.

The Day After

We received word that Joe had a pretty good night. When we got to see him briefly last night, he was still sedated. He is awake today and Fay is on her way down to be with him. All of the kids decided to wait as he still has the breathing tube in and needs a lot of rest today.

We had already planned to be working at their old house today and tomorrow to get it cleaned out so we can put it on the market, so that's what we're up to today. We will probably go visit him sometime tomorrow, although none of us can bring our kids (the grandkids) because he is in ICU recovery.

There is so much more to share about how all of this came together, but today it still feels surreal that this really happened! He was officially on the donor list for only 2 weeks and 4 days!

One quick thing - when we met with the doctor last night, we were just so amazed at the dedication it takes to pull something like this off. The surgeon we met with at 9:30 last night was the same one that had flown somewhere to view the liver at 4:00 that morning! We are so thankful for such a skilled, dedicated person that was also willing to meet with us and answer all of our questions. The team at Jefferson has been nothing short of AMAZING!

Joe is out of surgery!

We just met with the surgeon - he said everything went very well. The liver has been performing well. Just in case you're wondering, the liver stays in place by surface tension since the fascia has been cut away (that was Jon's burning question).

The jaundice should resolve by the end of the hospital stay which could be somewhere between 8 days and 2 weeks.

We are down in another waiting room and should get to see him in about 30 minutes. He will still be sedated and be on a breathing tube. They say the breathing tube could come out tomorrow afternoon if everything goes well.

More updates to come as we're able...

The latest

We have gotten several updates throughout the day. It seems that all is going well - the new liver is in and is working. We had a wonderful day together as a family! Jeremy, Elizabeth, Jon, Dawn, Sophia & Anthony arrived in time to see Pappy/Pops/Pop-Pop before he headed into surgery - we got to spend some private time with him and Grammy and all prayed together. We parted ways at about 10:30 a.m.

Jeremy brought some cookies, Elizabeth brought some bagel bits and Joel and Shannon arrived around 11:30 with donuts - it was definitely indicative of a DiCandilo crisis - no carb left behind!

We went to the Reading Terminal market for lunch and then hung out in a park - it was such a beautiful day. Erin, Lily and Wil arrived around 5:30 and we headed to dinner and to watch the Phillies game. Fay has been receiving calls from the OR nurse throughout the day letting us know how things are going.

Jer & Erin just took the kids home and the rest of us are now sitting in the waiting room as we anticipate getting an update from the doctor at 8:30. We hope to be able to see him briefly before heading home tonight.

It's been a long day but a very hopeful exciting day. We are all so thankful for the prayers and support we have felt throughout the day!

Update

Many of us made it to the hospital in time to see Pappy/Pop-Pop before he heads into surgery. We were saying that God parted traffic like the red sea! (thanks Merle for sending your intentions :-) ) It was unbelievable that we got here so quickly.

This is definitely not a false alarm - they have called from the operating room a couple of times asking for him to be sent down. We are sitting with him right now while he is prepped for surgery - he will be heading down any minute!

We've got a liver!!!

Joe got the call this morning! They are on their way to the hospital. As we said before, there can be false alarms meaning that you can get called to come for transplant and then find out the liver they thought they had, was not usable or some other complication. But, we are holding out hope that this is it! I talked to Pappy on his way to the hospital a few minutes ago and he said, "this might be a wild goose chase, but I'm willing to chase it!"

Please pray with us that the liver is indeed viable and that his body accepts it!

Some pictures of good times with kids and grandkids

Elizabeth recently had a chance to visit Rebecca who is currently living in South Korea:

June 2010 - Birthday party:

All the grandkids! Wil, Sophia, Georgia, Anthony, Lily, Gordon

Anthony & Gordy

Jer, Joel & Jon

Anthony & Lizzie

Wil & Erin

Wil with Grammy

April 2010 Birthday Party:

Georgia, Sophia, Lily, Anthony

Lily, Anthony, Georgia, Gordon & Sophia

Wil

Lily, Sophia & Georgia

Christmas 2010

Jon, Dawn, Sophia & Anthony

Joel, Shannon, Georgia & Gordon

Jeremy, Erin, Lily & Wil

Sophia & Wil

Joe

Jeremy & Fay

Elizabeth

Lily

Gordon

Fay & Sophia

Anthony & Dawn

Thanksgiving 2009

The whole family except for Rebecca who is in South Korea

Elizabeth

Erin & Dawn

Gordon, Anthony, Lily, Georgia, Wil & Sophia

Wil

Gordy

Shannon and Fay

Jeremy, Wil, Anthony & Gordon

Anthony & Jon

Summer 2009 - family picnic

Lily & Anthony

Georgia & Sophia

Elizabeth & Shannon

Erin (and Wil!) & Jeremy

Jon & Joe

Sophia, Georgia, Lily, Gordon, Joel & Anthony

9/29/10 Update

There is nothing really new to share - Joe had another appointment with the liver specialist on Monday and it went well. He continues to say that the transplant will be "soon". Joe is not able to do much right now as he is very weak, so besides doctor appointments he is lying low at home. Thanks to all of you that have called and visited - that really keeps his spirits up!

9/23/10 Update

Fay had a chance to talk to Dr. Navarro and ask him about a timeframe for the liver transplant now that Joe is on the list. The only information she had gotten from others on his team was "soon". She asked him what "soon" means - of course he said he cannot be sure, but he said it could be from 1 day to several weeks and at the very most 3 months. This came as a shock to all of us as we had been anticipating more like 6-12 months! We are so excited about this news!!!

Joe is finally being discharged from this visit - 9 days in! He is on his way home right now and it will be the first time in the new home!

9:00 pm Update- Joe is HOME!!!!

GREAT NEWS

We found out today that Joe is now officially on the liver transplant list! Being on the list means that Joe's case will be reviewed every week by the team and evaluated for transplant. There may be false alarms meaning that you can get called to come for transplant and then find out the liver they thought they had, was not usable or some other complication. But being on the list is a huge step in the right direction. Thanks so much for all of your prayers! Now we need to pray that he remains healthy enough to undergo the liver transplant surgery, yet sick enough to be the one who is given the next available liver.

9/20/10 Update

The hospital stay continues as more tests need to be run. There is a tentative plan to discharge him sometime tomorrow. It sounds like it may be late in the day. He sounds good and is holding up well with all the delays in discharge.

The latest

Joe continues his stay at Jefferson - he is feeling well and is in good spirits. The reason for the extended stay is because he needs to get an MRI done and it keeps getting delayed. Also, his potassium level has been up for the past 2-3 days and they are treating him for that. High potassium is not good because it effects heart rhythms, though his heart rate and EKG remain stable. They are somewhat baffled as to why it is elevated.

We were hoping he was going to come home today, but it might not be until tomorrow. He will come home to the new place - he went into the hospital the day we moved them.

All of the calls and visits have been appreciated very much!!!

Birthday Pic

So glad we were able to get to the hospital last night to see Pop-pop on his birthday! He was looking so much better than a couple of days ago.

Birthday

Today is Joe's birthday!!! If you'd like to call him, his cell phone number is 610-960-8226.

9/15/10 Update

We've created this private blog in order to keep friends and family updated on Joe as he deals with liver disease.

He is currently at Jefferson Memorial Hospital (Philadelphia) again. He went in for a scheduled visit yesterday, but was admitted because he passed out due to low blood pressure.

We also moved Joe & Fay out of their home temporarily. We felt that a ground-level apartment would be safer for him at this point. Their new address is 2117 Summer Lane, Pottstown, PA 19465. Their phone number remains the same (610-323-7798).