New address

Hey all,

If anyone is interested our new address is:

Steve Dawson (or Stephany)
4760 Seascape Way, #101
Jacksonville, FL
32224

Had our first doctors appointment since we were listed and he was very optimistic about getting a new liver before 3 months was up. Of course we understand that it is up to God as to when one will become available. We hope to be ready when we get that call. But then only God knows.

My dad is not doing well so they are going to perform surgery on Friday at Mercy San Juan. This will not cure him, so the doctors say, but will make him more comfortable and he will live a few more months. He is unable to feed himself, sit up without assistance or walk, so needless to say he will be going to a rehab center after the surgery.

He and mom had never been married in the catholic church so today they had a short ceremony in the hospital performed by a priest that has met with mom & dad in the past few weeks. They were unable to locate his baptismal papers so they baptized him as well. "Now my soul is taken care of." was his reply. Mom said that he shed some tears but looked like he was more at peace. Aunt Betty, Cousin Jenny Sue, her daughter, Stacy and a friend of the family,PJ came to celebrate & brought sparkling apple cider and a cake. I think they had fun and hopefully took some photos. OH! I almost forgot a dear friend of my dad's from the military came and gave a toast. I am sure that he feels good about being right with the Lord.

Please put him in your prayers as he needs them, mom as well. Jane is still a big help and spends most of her time at the hospital. I don't know what mom would of done without her.

We finally made arrangements for Buddy to be shipped out to us on the 8th of July. We have to depend on others to help us so it was a challenge to find someone who didn't mind giving up the time to get him ready and drop him off at the airport. Mom is taking him to the vet's for his health certificate and I felt that was asking a bit much, but she insisted so what can I say. I know they really don't want to give him back but they have so much to deal with. We are saying travel prayers for him and hope he does well.

Once again, thank you for your wonderful emails, comments and prayers. We hope that Kelly Gunn called it correct when she said we will be home before Thanksgiving.

Waiting patiently in Jacksonville,
Steve & Steph

Out of the 'Hole' at last!

Yeah, we are out of the Mayo Inn at last. Now I can really nest and try to have a normal life again. Not that the Mayo Inn did not serve us well, being a 3 minute walk from the hospital, but it is nice to be around healthy folks once again.



The apartment is nice and very comfortable and I love the kitchen. I actually have a stove & oven that works. We have had to purchase a few items to make it complete (such as a blender) but it has plenty of dishes and cookware. And a normal size refrigerator. We love it, now all that is missing is Buddy. We are working on shipping him out, so if anyone has any suggestions please let us know.



Steve is at a meeting (gripe session?) for caregivers only. I hope it helps him as I am not always the easiest to get along with. But I am trying and pray about it every morning.



My dad is not doing well and is back in the hospital. They found another tumor but so far are not sure if it can be surgically removed. He is unable to walk or feed himself and will probably go in to a home for a while. This is very hard for me and I wish I could be there with my mom and sister. I miss my dad so much, he was always there for Steve & I when I was sick in the past. He cooked for me and brought it to the hospital, the nurses loved it because he would bring plenty to share. The one great blessing is that my sister, Jane has risen to the cause and is doing all the arranging and intervening for my mom. My mom is a basket case and has difficulty making decisions or following thru with their financial problems. Please put them in your prayers for us.

I have my first doctor's appointment tomorrow and then we will see what they have planned for us. Lots of questions, hopefully some answers.

Well, I won't bore you with anymore right now. I love your emails, comments and phone calls. Please do not stop they are very encouraging to us. We miss EVERYONE so much and think of you all.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and do not forget we can not get enough prayers.

God Bless
Steve & Steph

Now the fun really begins...

WE ARE OFFICIALLY ON THE "LIST" AT MAYO AND THEY CAN CALL US AT ANY MOMENT!

We move into our new abode on Monday and all that is left to do is get Buddy here as soon as possible. And wait...

I am ashamed to say that Steve has had his hands full with trying to get everything together plus I have been depressed and tired of this "hole," not knowing and my hip still hurts. I really must stop this and be more supportive. He is a saint and my angel.

Wednesday night we went to church at this very contemporary church that we found down on the beach. They had a praise nite with excellent music and lots of prayer, it was just what we needed.

We are hoping to get out and go for a hike somewhere tomorrow and we have to go purchase a printer/fax machine for Steve's work. I am going to try to put some photos on my blog but it may take a while so I thought I would blog first.

Next week I have my first doctor apt as a bona-fide liver patient and am looking forward to it. We have loads of questions which they probably won't be able to answer. The story of a transplant patient.

This seems like a pretty tame post as I don't have anything exciting. Hopefully soon something positive will happen. Oh yeah, Anyone remember Greg Allman from the Allman Brothers? He received a liver on Wednesday! I wonder what his meld score was? I wonder how long HE was on the list? (I think he was once married to Cher.) It makes you wonder when these celebrities get transplants, I can't help but be a bit suspicious.

That's enough whining and complaining for now. Please forgive me and the next blog will be a happy one. Also look for photos.

Go with God,
Thank you for your prayers as I know that is what has gotten us this far.
Steph & Steve

Oh Boy, what to think?

Here we go again... the hematologist just called and said that they have cleared us and we should be listed as of Wednesday, when the review committee meets. We are not getting excited until they call us and tell us we are listed.

After the bone marrow biopsy, which went a lot better than we thought. They are very gentle and made sure that the bone was completely numb. They never even tried to numb the bone at Kaiser. Then afterwards on Saturday evening I ended up in the ER with an extremely large hematoma at the biopsy site. It hurt so bad I could not walk or put weight on the right leg. They took some blood which looked good and let me go back to the Inn (about 3 mins away,walking.) The next day it was a little bigger but a lot less painful, so they slammed me in the hospital for observation. The next day it was considerable less painful and I was wandering the halls. So they let me go back to the Inn. Today (Tuesday) it is only slightly painful and swelling has gone down considerably.

We have been driving around checking things out and found an Island called Amealia Island. They have State parks that are to be used as camping sites, lots of hiking,biking and Kayaking. We can't wait to go back and go hiking and kayaking. It is beautiful and harbors wild life galore (not the two legged kind.)

Our last appointments were today, so we just sit tight and wait for the official word. I will post it as soon as we find out then we are going to celebrate and move into our condo on Friday.

Please keep the prayers and good thoughts coming as I am assured that they are being heard by the Lord. Thank you for all your support and I love hearing from you all.

Until next blog... Go with God
Steve & Stephany

It is just a roller coaster.

The past two days have been entirely an excellent moment then a real let down. I think I am loosing my mind, literally. But more on that later.

Wednesday was awesome! We visited the breast surgeon to hear her opinion on the node that they discovered under my left arm. (They removed the lymph nodes on the right side twelve years ago.) Steve and I were really sweating that out but she reviewed all the mammogram and CT scans and it looked clear and was considered fairly small. No concern and no further tests! We jumped for joy and gave praise and thanks. Then our next appointment was with the kidney doc. He is from UCSF and knows our docs from UCSF, so it was like old home week. He explained about my left kidney and what is going on. The studies completed showed that the left kidney, while it has a blockage, was still working at about 40% and fairly healthy. Again we were walking on clouds and giving praise. Then we had a meeting with the dietitian and she put me on diet of eating 6 meals a day with 2300 calories, 90 gms of protein and lots of fat. I am not so sure about this, I've always been so careful about what I eat. It was a great day all the same. Then to top it off our nurse coordinator calls and tells us that they are going to present our case to the selection committee and that she would call us Thursday morning. YEAH, the Lord is with us.

So on Thursday I have no appointments or procedures. We get to relax...kinda. So this morning a different nurse calls regarding my bone marrow biopsy that is scheduled tomorrow. She asks some questions and then goes "Oh, you have been selected." We danced and screamed through out the "hole." Then she calls back and says, "That is as long as the biopsy comes back without anything bad." Of course she added that they didn't think anything would show up. Now total devastation. But we decided that the Lord would not take us this far and then pull it away from us.

So we drove to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the USA. It was discovered by Ponce de Leon while he was searching for the Fountain of Youth. He thought he found it at St. Augustine and started a community in 1560. There is so much to see and is so beautiful. The beaches here are the prettiest we have seen. We did not get to see everything so we plan on going back.

While in ole' town we found a shop with some shirts that I can wear. So I was in this little dressing room and Steve was handing me the clothes. I came out with a top that I decided didn't work and instead of waiting until I was safe in the dressing room, I just pull it off in the middle of the shop! Steve about had a heart attack. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I am sooooo brain dead that I am dangerous. Will I ever be normal again?

Please give me prayers for the successful and clean bone marrow. I am terrified to have it done, it is soooooo painful and I am so tired of being stuck all over. We will find out the results on Wednesday, let us hope they don't think up another test before then.

That is enough for now. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts they really mean a lot to us. We will be in touch soon.
trying to stay sane,
Steve & Steff

Whew! What a week...

Wow! I wish I had not waited so late write again.
Last week was a whirlwind, we began the day with blood work at 7am and ended with consults at 5 or 6pm. I was exhausted. We saw doctors, consults with non doc types and lots of tiring procedures and tests. We have never experienced any thing like this before. Everyday they gave you an itinerary to follow and it changed through out the day so we never knew what was going to happen next. They looked at EVERYTHING! From respiratory, cardiac, lots of bone scans, MRIs, CT scans, Gyn, Kidney, and things I don't even remember. It ended with the dreaded and much hated colonoscopy & endoscopy. I have been avoided that lovely experience for 5 years.

Finally Monday comes and our last appointment with the docs to discuss any findings and shortcomings. Nothing that would prevent the transplant!!! Yea! Celebrate! Until they decided that I need to see the oncologists. That was disappointing... now the selection committee will have to wait another week. (It is soooooo stressful to wonder whether this will keep us from the transplant or not.) Now I have to have a biopsy of a lymph node in the left arm and a bone marrow. If you have ever had one (bone marrow that is) you will understand why I lost it and broke down in the doctor's office. It is the most painful thing I have every experienced. After a whole week of being stuck, poked, photoed, and examined I did not feel I could handle this.

But I am going to have to. It is all in God's hands and we rely on Him so much. He will get us thru this and we will get better. Steve and I believe this with all our might. (Although sometimes we become weak and falter.)

We love our Surgeon (he's actually a Christian) and we have a lot of faith in him. But we also learned some very ugly facts. Maybe next time.

We still love Jacksonville and have driven around and feel better about the layout. We have a beautiful "luxury" condo on hold until Thursday, we are hoping they will continue holding it for us. The beach is wonderful and when things become overwhelming that is where you can find us.

Thank you to all you have sent emails and comments. Please continue it is the highlight of my day. It may take a while for me to get back to you but I promise I will eventually.

We miss everyone soooo much and hope to see you all soon and in good health.
In Jesus,
Steve & Steph

The beginning of our adventure

Arrived late on Wednesday nite very tired but glad to finally be here. The apartment is small but accommodating for the two weeks we will be here. (Steve is out looking for a condo at this moment.) The front desk was amazed at how much food we kept bringing in. They must think we are piggies. I think most of the residents go to the hospital cafe for their meals. But we found a couple of farmers markets so we went wild with the fresh fruits and veggies.

The next day we drove around to get the feel of the land. It is positively beautiful and very clean here. We are only 5 minutes from the beach so we went down and are going again this evening. I love the ocean at dusk.

The hospital is absolutely posh and very clean and comfortable. There is carpet everywhere and a pianist in the main lobby. Everyone here looks very sick but well kept. (No Medi-Cal patients at this hospital.) We are not at Kaiser any longer.

Our docs were wonderful and made us feel very comfortable. We found out that I have a gruelling week of testing but that we will find out if I made the cut on Thursday the 17th. They also told us that it would only take aprox 3 mos to get a new liver. We are praying that nothing new shows up and prevents us from staying. Please pray as well.

We went to church today at a Methodist church but what a great praise team and the pastor was tremendous. I hope we can still keep going there. We have decided that the Lord is truly with us and we feel His presence and grace all day and night. So far this has been fabulous and promising.

Well that is enough for now and I hope I get better at this and you all don't find this boring. Thank you for all prayers and thoughts as we are thinking of you all.

love to all, steve & steff