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.