Organ Transplant and 1300 miles/2 days

Location: New Rockdale RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

I need to clarify something from my last post. I mentioned that Brandon was number 2. Some people thought that was number 2 on the waiting list. Actually, a pancreas/kidney was available for transplant and Brandon was number two on receiving those organs. When organs become available, they call 2 or 3 people on the list whose blood/tissue type matches the donor. The number 1 person is told to go to the hospital for further testing and transplantation if all is good. The number 2 and 3 are told to be on standby and not to leave the immediate area. Brandon was number 2 for these organs. After about 9 hours of waiting, they called to let him know that the number 1 person received the organs. But, the good news is that it appears Brandon will be number one for the next organs that match his blood/tissues. That is extremely good news for only being on the waiting list for about a month and only been on dialysis for 7 months. So we wait,,,, but are comforted by knowing that the transplant can happen at any time. There are people around the country who have been on the active waiting list for years and years and never received a call for even standby. So we are feeling fortunate. A few readers have asked for Brandon's email address so they could drop him a line of encouragement or to ask him questions, etc. It is theregoesagoza@yahoo.com 
If you don't want to email, but want to let him know something you can always post a comment to the blog here.

I read an article in the newspaper many years ago about a local organ recipient. He had received a heart transplant which saved his life. He wanted to meet the family of the deceased donor to thank them for being part of saving his life. Through the transplant center, he was able to track them down and learned the family would to meet him as well. So, with his new heart pumping away, he scheduled a visit to meet at the family's house. During the visit, he learned many things about the donor which made him happy. As he was saying his goodbyes and preparing to leave, the deceased donors mother surprised him with a question. She asked him a simple question: "Can I listen to my baby's heart?" Of course he said yes and when she placed her ear to his chest, she cried. Wow. That is what organ donation is all about and not talked about nearly enough. 

I made it back yesterday afternoon after 1,335 miles in two days. That violated my usual 200 miles per travel day maximum but, I wanted to get back quickly. I left early and put 800 miles behind me before I started looking for a place to stop for the night. The 800 mile point was a Flying J truck stop in Charleston, Missouri. I figured I would park in one of their RV parking spots and catch a few hours of sleep and continue on. Wrong. This flying J has converted their RV parking spaces into "Reserved 18 wheeler" parking spaces. It's a very busy truck stop and I guess there is extra money to be made by reserving them for the truckers. I don't know how much they charge but I wasn't too happy. But luckily, the next exit had a campground that I've stayed at before. It is a small, no-frill, self serve campground for $12.00 cash per night. You get full hookups for the $12.00. It was after dark when I got there and no-frills include no street lights. I left Freedom/Liberty hitched up and only connected electricity for A/C use. I didn't even open the slides, just turned the A/C's on 70 degrees and crawled into bed. I woke up a little before dawn, got a shower and hit the road. 

Freedom and Liberty did great on the trip although Liberty gave me a little bit of a scare when one of the Temperature/Pressure Monitors indicated a low tire. I thought, "oh crap, must have picked up a nail". I pulled into the next exit and checked the tire. Luck was with me again when I discovered it was just the monitor that had worked itself loose and allowed air to escape. This twice that has happened. It was down to 59 psi, which is the pressure I set for an alarm. If I had to, I could safely travel on that low of pressure for a while. But, lucky again, the place I pulled into had a working air compressor. It wasn't one of the larger ones, but it was able to put 73 psi into the tire. I knew I had another fuel stop coming up at another Flying J, so I hit the road with plans to complete the airing up then. Wrong. Their air compressor was broken and there were 18 wheelers at every diesel pump so there wasn't any way of getting to the truck air compressors. So, I continued the last 150 miles with the 73 psi. Not ideal, but not a problem either. Flying J disappointed me twice twice on this trip.

I'm not sure how long I'll be here but at least through the birth of my grandson in September. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.