Coming soon?

Hi everyone:

Since Patty's medical history seems to me, at times, like the stuff of outlandish fiction, I thought today might be a good day to start thinking about the movie version of all of this -- hence, the draft poster to the right. What do you think? To be honest, I wasn't getting good photos of Patty today, so I opted to have some fun with an extreme close-up (just to mix things up a little.)

We did hear today a piece of information that was at once interesting, unsettling and encouraging. Patty spoke with her transplant coordinator, who confirmed that the heart donated over the weekend was a negative crossmatch for Patty, in both classes of antibodies. So, in spite of the 58% and 100% figures, they had found a heart that would work. Unfortunately, there was a person on the list ahead of Patty who was considered a higher priority, so the heart went to him or her.

So, how do we feel about all this? Well, we were a bit disappointed to hear that after all this time, a real cause for hope came along and suddenly took a detour. Of course, there is someone else out there who is loved by others who received a second chance, so we have to appreciate that. It's hard to hear that she came so close without success, but we are now seeing a silver lining here. One of Patty's doctors said that she is very encouraged by this news, because it may mean that the PRA numbers are meaningful but by no means absolute. I will tell you this: Patty has been feeling very hopeful and cheerful since she received that call -- and that is, bar none, the best thing about this day.

Love,
Brian