evaluation time

We received our schedule for the transplant evaluation process. We will undergo a 2 day evaluation on Jan. 17th and 19th in which we will meet with various doctors, nurses, social workers, nutritionists and psychologists as well as conduct labs, ultrasounds, CAT and CT scans. The transplantation team at Seattle Children's will review the results of all the tests and go one of three ways:

First option is that they could tell us that Hudson is too healthy at this point in time to be considered a candidate for a transplant. If that is the case, we go back to our primary specialists (whom we have been working with up to this point) and continue to manage his health.

The second option is that they believe he is a good candidate for a transplant however, he is not ready to be put on the donor list at this very moment. If he is a candidate, Children's would take over Hudson's medical care and a game plan would be put into place to monitor his condition until it is time to be listed on the donor list.

The final option is that they feel he is a good candidate and ready to be listed now. If he is ready to be listed, Children's will take over all care and we would start understanding how they rank Hudson on the donor list and what the game plan is moving forward.

I do not believe that we will have both a decision and a game plan by the end of the 19th however, I do believe that we will understand what direction we will be going and will begin to digest all the information that we will be given.

It is our understanding that biliary atresia patients can only receive a liver from a deceased donor because they transplant the bile duct as well as the liver. Living donors need their bile duct to live (hence us being in this situation)

That is all we know at this point and after next week, we will start to communicate the outcome of the evaluation and next steps as we understand them to be.

A quick note: I have received a tremendous amount of support and positive feedback about this blog. Thank you. I have updated the 'Background' and 'Snapshots' pages with some additional pictures to show Hudson's journey.

XOXO,

Jordan, Morgan and Hudson