7/10/13 NEW UPDATE IN POST #1 -- If you can spare a couple of prayers or good thoughts today...

[Alessandra]

:grouphug:

 

I am so sorry to hear your news.

[Scarlett]

Cat, bumping this in hopes you will check in. We are all worried for you and your dh.

[unsinkable]

Thank you, Scarlett.

 

I got my hopes up, tho, when I first saw it.

 

Cat and I PMd each other so much. I really regret no exchanging emails.

[Kathryn]

Her profile says she hasn't been on in almost a month :(

[Reflections]

Thank you, Scarlett.

 

I got my hopes up, tho, when I first saw it.

 

Cat and I PMd each other so much. I really regret no exchanging emails.

 

I too have been worried. I hope that no news is good news....

[*Lulu*]

 

 

I too have been worried. I hope that no news is good news....

 

So do I.

[jrn]

prayers for you and your family

[SunnyDays]

Thanks for bumping this. I tried to PM Cat a couple weeks ago but it won't let me, assume her inbox is full?

 

Cat, thinking of you. I hope things are going well and you're getting the answers and care needed. Please check in if you can! :grouphug:

[besroma]

Cat, I am also checking in to see if you and your DH are okay.

[Stacia]

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[charcat13]

Praying dear!

[J-rap]

Just checking in. I'm keeping up the prayers!

[Momof3littles]

I'm just seeing this now. Wishing you and your DH strength. Your family is in my thoughts.

[Cindy in FL.]

I miss Cat's voice here on the board as I am sure we all do. I am glad that her dh and son have such a strong person to support them and hope that Cat can feel us all supporting her!

[Chris in VA]

Just seeing if there's an update and continuing to send good thoughts and prayers.

[SpecialClassical]

Still praying and wondering how they are doing. Thanks for bumping the thread.

[jhschool]

I had been wondering why Cat wasn't on the boards any more...

 

I missed the first post.

 

Thank you for bumping.

 

Cat, I just prayed for you.  You are in our thoughts!

[Catwoman]

Update in post #1 -- I'm so sorry I haven't been around!

[Melissa in Australia]

you and your family continue to be in my thoughts :grouphug:  :grouphug:

[catz]

Thank you for the update, Cat! I'm glad things are going reasonably well for now at least.

 

(I can put a plug in for the Rochester Mayo Clinic. I know a number of people who've used the clinic and that is a lovely small town area about 60-90 minutes to the big city.)

[Starr]

I'm glad you're getting things organized and dh is doing well now. Keeping you in my prayers. Glad to see you back on the boards!

[dirty ethel rackham]

Thanks for the update,Cat.  Continuing to pray for your family.

[sheryl]

Cat,

 

Will pray too.  It does sound very encouraging.  Cleveland Clinic resembles a mini U.N.  There are people from all over the world that go there.  I'm sure that's the case with Mayo as well.  USN and World Report "used" to run the "Best" series, such as: Best Jobs, Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, etc.  You probably already have the info you need, but wanted to suggest that as another source of info.  :grouphug:  :grouphug:   and prayer.

[PrincessMommy]

Cat-  thank you for the update... keeping you and your husband in my prayers. 

[Scarlett]

Well Cat that is so much better news than what I feared.  Thank you for checking in.

 

What about his work?  Can he still work?  Will he be able to transfer his work near one of those clinics?

[Kathryn]

Thank you so much for updating. We have all been so worried about you.

[Catwoman]

Thank you for the update, Cat! I'm glad things are going reasonably well for now at least.(I can put a plug in for the Rochester Mayo Clinic. I know a number of people who've used the clinic and that is a lovely small town area about 60-90 minutes to the big city.)

  

 

Thanks -- one of our clients goes there once a year with his family for complete check-ups. They swear that several of them wouldn't be alive today without the Mayo Clinic. The Rochester area looks nice and from what I've been reading, it's also a pretty safe place to live. I hadn't realized it, but it looks like the Minneapolis - Saint Paul areas have high crime rates. They look lovely in the photos I have seen, but the crime numbers sound kinda scary. It's so hard to judge by online statistics, though -- sometimes places sound really horrible, but in reality it's just a few bad neighborhoods that make an entire city appear to be dangerous.

 

 

Cat,

 

Will pray too.  It does sound very encouraging.  Cleveland Clinic resembles a mini U.N.  There are people from all over the world that go there.  I'm sure that's the case with Mayo as well.  USN and World Report "used" to run the "Best" series, such as: Best Jobs, Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, etc.  You probably already have the info you need, but wanted to suggest that as another source of info.  :grouphug:  :grouphug:   and prayer.

 

 

Thanks, Sheryl! I have been reading every "best" listing I can find, as well as so many statistics about all the different transplant centers that I'm pretty much thoroughly confused right now!

 

The Cleveland Clinic has an amazing reputation and the people we have been dealing with on the phone have been very helpful and nice. The crime rate there is awful, but the Shaker Heights area looks beautiful and appears to be pretty safe. I also heard about a few nice suburbs outside of Cleveland that we might check out.

 

 

 

Well Cat that is so much better news than what I feared.  Thank you for checking in.

 

What about his work?  Can he still work?  Will he be able to transfer his work near one of those clinics?

My dh owns a CPA practice, and his clients are all over the country, so he can work from almost anywhere. We would probably keep our office here as well, and have an employee run it. (We already have someone we trust, so we wouldn't be hiring a stranger or anything.) If that turns out to be too much of a pain, my dh will just retire. I have been wanting him to retire for a while now, anyway, so I think it would be a good idea. I guess it all depends on the cost of living wherever we end up, as well as whether or not we want to keep one of our homes here, in addition to buying one wherever the transplant center turns out to be. My personal preference would probably be to sell the accounting practice, sell the real estate, and make a clean break from here, so we can make a fresh start somewhere else, but I'm not really sure how it will all turn out.

 

Decisions, decisions!!!! :eek:

[trulycrabby]

Hello; I am new on the board and don't know you, but wish the best for you and your DH.

[LibraryLover]

:grouphug:  I had no idea!  All the very best. 

 

As for location (all clinics being equal?) ...perhaps consider weather and cold...no place is perfect, but winter is easier in Jacksonville, and finding a one story ranch home to rent/buy, which would be a blessing during transplant recovery, might be easier.

 

 

 

[LifeLovePassion]

:grouphug:

 

Lifelong student of the Twin Cities here, crime stats will vary greatly depending on location/neighborhood. Feel free to ask more. Several friends and family have used Mayo and have had by good care there. Rochester is also a nice area to live in.

[Joanne]

I AM HERE FOR YOU.

 

Please know that I understand in ways most can't. The next years may be very difficult medically.

[catz]

:grouphug:

 

Lifelong student of the Twin Cities here, crime stats will vary greatly depending on location/neighborhood. Feel free to ask more. Several friends and family have used Mayo and have had by good care there. Rochester is also a nice area to live in.

I live IN st Paul. There are a very limited number of areas that have significant violent crime. Feel free to PM me too.

[Harriet Vane]

Thanks for updating, Cat. I am sorry your dh is so sick, and glad to hear that it is manageable for now. I pray God gives you wisdom in setting up your new normal. I also applaud the way you are thinking this through and carefully planning for the future.

[fraidycat]

Thanks for the update. I lived in Rochester, MN for two years. Very nice, small city to live in. We still own a house there.

 

Continued good thoughts for your DH and family.

[justamouse]

Still praying! and glad to hear that things aren't the worst case. 

[tampamommy]

We have been thinking of and praying for you. Hugs to you all.

[TracyP]

I will echo the others, and say that Rochester is a lovely city. My bro and sil live moved there 3 years ago or so. They are almost smug when they talk about it because it is such a nice small community but has many amenities right there. Plus it is just a short hour drive to the Twin Cities. They feel it is the best of all worlds.

 

:grouphug: I'm glad to hear everything is under control for now. Good luck in your decision.

 

[Catwoman]

:grouphug: I had no idea! All the very best.

 

As for location (all clinics being equal?) ...perhaps consider weather and cold...no place is perfect, but winter is easier in Jacksonville, and finding a one story ranch home to rent/buy, which would be a blessing during transplant recovery, might be easier.

The weather is definitely a consideration, and I have also been thinking that a ranch style house, preferably with no stairs anywhere (even the front porch) would be the best possible option, and if that didn't work, a house with at least one bedroom and a full bath on the first floor might work.

 

I also like it that a lot of the houses in the Jacksonville area have an enclosed lanai with a pool and an outdoor kitchen area. If my dh needs the surgery, even in the best-case scenario, he will be mostly at home for months (to minimize the chance of infections,) so it would be nice if he had an outdoor area to hang out in, that wasn't over-run with Mosquitos and other bugs.

 

I'm also hoping for a walkable neighborhood, whether it's "walk around town" or "nice walking paths," because it sounds like he will need regular exercise and it would be good to have outdoor options in addition to just having a treadmill or an elliptical or whatever.

[Catwoman]

:grouphug:

Lifelong student of the Twin Cities here, crime stats will vary greatly depending on location/neighborhood. Feel free to ask more. Several friends and family have used Mayo and have had by good care there. Rochester is also a nice area to live in.

  

I live IN st Paul. There are a very limited number of areas that have significant violent crime. Feel free to PM me too.

  

Thanks for the update. I lived in Rochester, MN for two years. Very nice, small city to live in. We still own a house there.

Continued good thoughts for your DH and family.

  

I will echo the others, and say that Rochester is a lovely city. My bro and sil live moved there 3 years ago or so. They are almost smug when they talk about it because it is such a nice small community but has many amenities right there. Plus it is just a short hour drive to the Twin Cities. They feel it is the best of all worlds.

 

:grouphug: I'm glad to hear everything is under control for now. Good luck in your decision.

 

Thank you for the info about Minnesota --- it's so hard to judge a place by statistics and a few online forums where most of the people like to only talk about the bad stuff, so I really appreciate the positive comments, and if it looks like we're going to end up in MN, I'll definitely be asking you guys a lot of questions! :)

[Catwoman]

I AM HERE FOR YOU.

 

Please know that I understand in ways most can't. The next years may be very difficult medically.

Thank you so much, my friend. :grouphug:

 

Joanne, I have to tell you that when the surgeon came in to talk to me and said it was cirrhosis, my very first thought was of you and Adrian. :grouphug: Seriously, it really was.

 

Honestly, whenever I start getting depressed about this, I kick myself out of it by reminding myself that you have it about a thousand times worse than I do right now, and you're so strong and courageous about it all. I keep telling myself that finding out about this when we did was a blessing, because my dh is still in pretty good shape and at least we can try everything possible to keep him that way for as long as possible. If we didn't find out now, we probably wouldn't have known anything about it until he started getting the really bad symptoms, and when he might have been too sick to travel around to visit the different transplant centers and try to find out all of his options.

 

I mean, realistically, we probably can't prevent the disease from progressing, but if my dh feels like he has at least some control over the whole process, I think it will help a lot. It's such a helpless feeling to know that he has a disease and he didn't do anything to cause it, and that the only solution is a transplant... but that he also has to get really sick before he will qualify for it. I'm sure he's more worried about the symptoms of the disease than he is about the actual transplant -- I know I would be, because the symptoms sound awful, and I remember your descriptions about a lot of the things that have happened to Adrian.

 

This is scary stuff, but again, I have to keep reminding myself that it could be a whole lot worse.

[SunnyDays]

Oh, Cat... I'm so glad you checked in and are getting some answers. We are all thinking of you. If you do end up heading to MN, I'll throw my hat into the info ring... My brother and his family live outside the Twin Cities... Definitely some areas to avoid, but some wonderful areas as well. :grouphug:

[Whereneverever]

:grouphug: When we lived in MN we did a lot of doctoring there. Mayo is amazing and Rochester is a really nice place.

[Melissa in Australia]

:grouphug:

[Another Lynn]

I didn't see your original post (until now), but thankful to read encouraging news in your update.  Your dh is blessed to have you; you are so thoroughly considering what is best for him in every way, in every detail.

 

:grouphug:

[sheryl]

  

 

Thanks -- one of our clients goes there once a year with his family for complete check-ups. They swear that several of them wouldn't be alive today without the Mayo Clinic. The Rochester area looks nice and from what I've been reading, it's also a pretty safe place to live. I hadn't realized it, but it looks like the Minneapolis - Saint Paul areas have high crime rates. They look lovely in the photos I have seen, but the crime numbers sound kinda scary. It's so hard to judge by online statistics, though -- sometimes places sound really horrible, but in reality it's just a few bad neighborhoods that make an entire city appear to be dangerous.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Sheryl! I have been reading every "best" listing I can find, as well as so many statistics about all the different transplant centers that I'm pretty much thoroughly confused right now!

 

The Cleveland Clinic has an amazing reputation and the people we have been dealing with on the phone have been very helpful and nice. The crime rate there is awful, but the Shaker Heights area looks beautiful and appears to be pretty safe. I also heard about a few nice suburbs outside of Cleveland that we might check out.

 

 

 

My dh owns a CPA practice, and his clients are all over the country, so he can work from almost anywhere. We would probably keep our office here as well, and have an employee run it. (We already have someone we trust, so we wouldn't be hiring a stranger or anything.) If that turns out to be too much of a pain, my dh will just retire. I have been wanting him to retire for a while now, anyway, so I think it would be a good idea. I guess it all depends on the cost of living wherever we end up, as well as whether or not we want to keep one of our homes here, in addition to buying one wherever the transplant center turns out to be. My personal preference would probably be to sell the accounting practice, sell the real estate, and make a clean break from here, so we can make a fresh start somewhere else, but I'm not really sure how it will all turn out.

 

Decisions, decisions!!!! :eek:

 

 

ou

Cat, Hi!  Praying for y'all.  Yes, CC is not in a good real estate area at.all!  You would "not" want to buy a house there.  Cleveland is a large city and if that is the area you choose, there are tons of suburbs that would be within a reasonable driving time.   Cleveland is on Lake Erie so you would have that "lake air", but Cleveland is in the snow belt too.   MN, OH, others - will pray for best to surface without question.

 

[sheryl]

Cat, Hi!  Praying for y'all.  Yes, CC is not in a good real estate area at.all!  You would "not" want to buy a house there.  Cleveland is a large city and if that is the area you choose, there are tons of suburbs that would be within a reasonable driving time.   Cleveland is on Lake Erie so you would have that "lake air", but Cleveland is in the snow belt too.   MN, OH, others - will pray for best to surface without question.

 

 

 

I tried to paste this as a "quote tag" from your reply to me.  Don't know if it worked as I'm rushing out the door - so I'm replying again.  Sorry for the confusion.

[LibraryLover]

The weather is definitely a consideration, and I have also been thinking that a ranch style house, preferably with no stairs anywhere (even the front porch) would be the best possible option, and if that didn't work, a house with at least one bedroom and a full bath on the first floor might work.

 

I also like it that a lot of the houses in the Jacksonville area have an enclosed lanai with a pool and an outdoor kitchen area. If my dh needs the surgery, even in the best-case scenario, he will be mostly at home for months (to minimize the chance of infections,) so it would be nice if he had an outdoor area to hang out in, that wasn't over-run with Mosquitos and other bugs.

 

I'm also hoping for a walkable neighborhood, whether it's "walk around town" or "nice walking paths," because it sounds like he will need regular exercise and it would be good to have outdoor options in addition to just having a treadmill or an elliptical or whatever.

 

:grouphug:  In your decision. I'm so sorry you have to go through this.

 

 

 

 

[Tammyla]

:grouphug: Catwoman, I just read the 7/10 update and I'm sending prayers your way.  :grouphug:

[Little Nyssa]

((hugs))

[J-rap]

Sending prayers your way! I know those big decisions are difficult. My husband did his in-patient rehab (3 months) at Mayo, and I have 5 close family members who work there. It is an amazing place. I know of no other hospital that is run the way it is. It is definitely one-of-a-kind, a hospital of the future. Hard to describe.

 

That being said, winters in Minnesota are really difficult. This past winter was almost 6 months long, and my husband was pretty depressed as a result. Summers are wonderful, though!