List

[kitkatz]

If one more person asks me about the damned transplant list I am going to lose my mind!

[okarol]

List...? There's a list?


 

[goofynina]

The next time they ask you about the list, hand them your grocery list or "things i have to do today" list and point out a few items they can get for you or do for you    Today my dietician asked me what my transplant status was (while looking at my chart)  i guess that means the word list is no where on my chart dammit 

[jbeany]

I've been telling them the truth - that there's a good chance my abnormal EKG will keep me off the list.  Then they get quiet and quickly change the subject.   

[paris]

I hate the "list" question also. If only it was as simple as people think! And don't even try to explain high PRA and what that does to your chances.  People only want to hear " I am doing great".   Except here and everyone listens and understands what you are talking about.  THANKS!!!!!

[angieskidney]

I hate the "list" question also. If only it was as simple as people think! And don't even try to explain high PRA and what that does to your chances.  People only want to hear " I am doing great".    Except here and everyone listens and understands what you are talking about.  THANKS!!!!!

Yeah it is true! It would be different if they were actually interested but they only want to hear "oh yes things are going great!" or "I am near the top of the list and will be healthy and normal again by next month" 

First of all, dialysis SUCKS
2nd of all, I have no friggan CLUE where I am on the list
3rd of all, if you (whoever is asking about the list just to make small talk at my expense) want things to go so well for me, get tested to give me a kidney or donate blood or spread the word about signing donor cards!


EVERYONE asks about the list because that is really the main thing people know (but do they know how the list works? No).

Dialysis is for people with kidney problems (but do they know it is for people without enough kidney function? That dialysis doesn't HELP any kidney work but that we NEED a kidney??? You'd be surprised! My cousin last Nov told me to go ahead and drink booze with her and when I said I had no kidney she said "what are you talking about?!?! Then what is your dialysis for??"  )



How can we explain the LIST to people so that they understand and remember yet it is not TOO long to explain that they get bored??

[livecam]

Ok after I explain this I may have to leave the country but I'm going to decipher the mystery of "The List".

We all know that there is a list upon which those waiting for transplants have been placed.  Just how that list works and where it's priorities are have been a mystery until now.  From top to bottom this is how organs are really allocated in the U.S.

#1) Political office holders, their nuclear and extended families.  Remember when the governor of
      Pennsylvania needed a new heart?  Yes sir...right away sir.

#2) Large campaign contributors to said officials and providers of freebees to same to include vacations,
      private air transportation, special favors, and occassionally paid female or male companionship.

#3) Corporate and financial movers and shakers, the people who really control the country.

#4) Celebrities from the world of entertainment, sports, etc.  Remember alcoholic Mickey Mantle and the
      new liver?  Yes sir...right away sir.

#5) Physicians, their families, and friends...whats a kidney here or there for a good buddy?

#6) Anyone who has the money to buy one here in the U.S. Prices here are much higher than in
      India, Pakistan, China, the Philippines, or several eastern European countries.

#7) Immigrants, anyone from anywhere else regardless of eligibility or ability to pay sits on the list at           
      number 7.

#8) Illegal immigrants, almost as easy for them as immigrants in general but very doable.

#9) You and me.  If we are very very good, sit on dialysis forever, follow all the rules, don't
       complain, and everyone in positions 1 through 8 has been taken care of first...maybe!

[kitkatz]

#10 Anyone but Kitkatz will get a kidney first!  WAAAhhhhhh!

[okarol]

Kitkatz,
Tell them that you're not on THE LIST yet, but you've been checking Craigslist.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/fur/286256657.html

[Pianolion]

Believe me, I understand your frustration...there's NEVER a simple answer to questions about the health/list status of CKD patients, yet when people ask how you're doing, that's what they expect!  At first, I'd plunge into this long, involved story about my dialysis status, list status, emotional frustrations, stupid doctor stories, ridiculous dialysis clinics, and on and on...but I slowly realized that peoples' eyes were glazing over!  So I basically just gave them two or three stock answers, depending on who I was talking to - "Oh, things are going as well as can be expected", "Well, I've been better, but things could be a lot worse", or my favourite, "My next appointment should give us some more answers" (such lies!)

If people really don't want to know the details and ins/outs of our medical difficulties, then WHY do they have to ask in the first place???  Hang in there, stay cool...   but don't worry about indulging in a little rant now and then

[boxman55]

List what list . I have been trying to get on the dam list since August '06 everytime I get close the Doctor says no not yet. We have to figure out how much calcium build up I have in my main artery' That is this month's set back Boxman55

[kitkatz]

I have been trying since '04.  Good luck!

[jedimaster]

I AM an immigrant, so as explained...i am in number 7...good for me!