It was a year ago today that the First Mate received a pancras transplant that cured her diabetes. That surgery went tremendously well, and for almost an entire year she has not needed an insulin injection or had to test her blood sugars. After more than forty years of living with that dreaded disease, the transplant gave her a new lease on life with complete food independence.

Unfortunately for the FM, she cannot celebrate it much tonight. Her kidney transplant is rapidly failing and it looks as though, barring a miraculous recovery from a polyoma infection, she will need dialysis again soon. Her doctor wants to try one more massive shot of antiviral therapy next week, but after that he says she will need to start planning for a new transplant. Unfortunately, the wait for a cadaver donor in this area takes four to five years on average, which means she will have to hold up through a long trial of dialyzing three times a week.

We had hoped for better news, but unfortunately it is what it is. On the plus side, the polyoma virus does not affect the pancreas, and the FM has been spared that complication. She's feeling down tonight; we couldn't do much for Valentine's Day except eat dinner together and then just relax. She feels all your prayers and wants to thank everyone who's offered them, as well as the kind thoughts and lovely comments.

Note: I also want to send out prayers to John O'Neill, whose wife Anne passed away after a long struggle with chronic illnesses. He sent me some kind words last month of optimism and hope from his experience living with that struggle, and it broke my heart to hear that she passed away last week. Bruce Kesler writes a moving post about Anne on his blog. Her service is tomorrow, and my thoughts and prayers will be with the entire O'Neill family.

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