Chad

Chad had been turning yellow a few months ago but felt perfectly healthy. He finally saw a doc regarding his jaundice and the doc wanted him to get an "ERCP" right away, which is an endoscopic procedure where they shoved a tube down his throat to see whether his bile duct between the liver and the small intestine was blocked, which it was. Then a "stent" which is like a straw was placed in the duct to keep it open. His body is attacking his bile duct, which is an autoimmune disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. After his first ERCP, he developed pancreatitis and was hospitalized. I'm not sure what happened over the course of the next three weeks, but he eventually had two more ERCPs and was in the ICU for the better part of two weeks.

Chad is going to need a liver transplant at the University of Utah hospital. We've relocated to Chad's folks' house, so we'll be living in Hotel Inlaws for an indefinite period. The good news is that Chad is #2 on the liver transplant list, but only for the U of U hospital. This doesn't factor in people who need transplants regionally, including Idaho and Nevada. The bad news is, Chad is so ill that he is #2 on the list. We're taking it one day at a time. His big focus/goal every day is to get enough calories in every day. He doesn't have any appetite. I'm so scared for him, but we've had many reassuring priesthood blessings so I'm hopeful that he will be just fine.