Cohen was officially reactivated on the transplant list yesterday! We are so grateful although it is a “hard praise”. He needs it so we’re happy to be here, but the fear and anxiety are real. 

Thank you everyone who has lifted up Cohen this week. His LP procedure showed normalized intracranial pressure. It took a few days for all of the specialists to talk through the results, but yesterday afternoon we received confirmation from his Stanford Hepatologist that we are moving forward with re-listing. All in all the procedure was smooth. He fought sedation a bit as they slowly put him under to get an ABG before putting him on oxygen. This was is hard to watch, but he thankfully doesn’t remember that part. He does remember the calming child life specialist that sat by him before his procedure who in his words “made me feel comfortable”. Praise God for that. The ABG measures oxygen/carbon dioxide levels in the blood after being oxygenated by the lungs. This showed worsening numbers, giving the transplant team confidence it is time to move forward. He had some soreness from his pokes, but no spinal headaches like last time.  

We also recently learned that we are 0 for 3 on living donor matches. We don’t believe our most recent family member who traveled to Stanford for their multiple day, in-depth testing will be a match. Prior to starting this journey, we were clueless to how much size and anatomy mattered in matching. We are beyond grateful to those who have voluntarily stepped forward, willing to sacrifice of themselves for Cohen. Even with disappointment in this being a closed door so far, we remain encouraged by his team that given Cohen’s blood type (universal recipient) he has potential for a deceased offer relatively quickly. That holds a lot of tension for us as we wait for something so horrible in someone else’s life to occur.

But, we have to believe only God can redeem- what the enemy means for evil God means for good. 

For now, we are still going one day at a time. We will be waiting for the call with bags packed and ready to go. Once we get the call, we will fly out as soon as possible. 

A few things to be praying for: 

• Right liver & timing for Cohen
• Cohen stays free of sickness that would delay surgery 
• Peace for all the 3 kids
• Successful surgery when the time comes