First visit to Toronto

Finally - the meeting we've been waiting months for. The meeting that will determine if/when the transplant will take place.

My dad arrived in Toronto on Monday, August 11th. He and my mom spent the previous night in Port Hope. The meeting was set for Tuesday at noon.

When they arrived at the hospital, they were introduced to the team of doctors who will be monitoring my dad until after the transplant has taken place. What a relief! Finally some progress... or so I thought.

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Can someone please explain to me why the health care system in Canada sucks so much? Sure - you get 'free' health care. However, you have to wait 4 months for an MRI while your dying of cancer (or in my dad's case, a new liver while a willing donor just sits waiting). And if that wasn't enough, you have to pay an obscene amount for parking. I paid $13 to visit my dad for 45min at the Ottawa Civic Campus. You know what that is? Balls.

But in all seriousness - I really began to worry that if my father died while he was waiting for a liver transplant, I'd become insanely angry and bitter towards the health care system. Why didn't they work faster? Why couldn't they have just given my dad my liver? Where the hell was Dr House? But my mom constantly reminds me of the reality of the situation. Its not up to the health care system. I'm not trusting that the doctors will do everything in their power to get my dad through this. The reality is that humans will fail. We will make mistakes. We will mess up. Instead, I'd rather place my dad in the hands of the one who actually has the power to save my dad from certain death. I'm putting my faith in God.

My God can heal my dad. My God will heal my dad. But even if he doesn't, I'll still serve him faithfully all the days of my life. (Adopted from Daniel 3:17 - Thanks Pastor John)

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After all the anticipation, it turns out my dad still needs to wait up to two months before his transplant can happen. Why? I'm not quite sure at this point. My dad said something about more tests.

There was good news though. The doctors were able to confirm 100% that given his current condition, he qualifies for the transplant surgery. That would lead me to believe that the remaining tests will dictate when, not if, he will have the surgery.

We also found out that my appointment will be in the next two months in Toronto. There's a separate team of doctors dedicated to treating liver donors. Kinda scary. I'm supposed to attend the meeting without my dad. The doctors want a certain degree of separation between the donor and the recipient to ensure that the donor does in fact want to proceed with the transplant and isn't being coerced.

My dad is on his way back to his hotel now (Delta Chelsea, downtown Toronto). He'll be back in Ottawa tomorrow. He'll be required to report back to the doctors in Toronto every two weeks.