Herman, Where Art Thou?

Who is Herman you ask?  Herman is what I have decided I will name my new liver when I get it.  Odd--maybe.  But to know me is to understand that!

This summer, the first of my produce was Herman the pickle  I harvested him.  When receiving a transplant, I will receive an organ that the surgeon has "harvested" from the donor.  Got it now?  I know, it's still kind of odd.  But I'm trying to keep things light to keep from going crazy just sitting around, day after day, waiting.

Thursday I will have another paracentesis done to remove abdominal fluid.  Trying to sleep is miserable.  There is NO comfortable position.  I whistle when I breathe whether lying down or sitting.  Not that I enjoy the shot that stings then the needle insertion to vacuum the fluid off into the jars.  They are vacuum jars--no one hooks up a Hoover or Oreck to get rid of the fluid. 

Although my score (MELD) has dropped to 20, I get credit for the time at higher scores, and for the overall length of time since my listing (July 2011).  So I am still number 1 for the Aurora clinic's B blood group.  Apparently, my best chances for an organ match would be from an Asian or African American donor.  Here is how the blood types break down by population:

	Caucasians	African American	Hispanic	Asian
O +	37%	47%	53%	39%
O -	8%	4%	4%	1%
A +	33%	24%	29%	27%
A -	7%	2%	2%	0.5%
B +	9%	18%	9%	25%
B -	2%	1%	1%	0.4%
AB +	3%	4%	2%	7%
AB -	1%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%

They say that you sometimes get odd cravings from your new organ attributable to the donor.  Great, I'm going to want stir fry or collard greens.  I'll go for the stir fry, but no collard greens!  Oh, Herman, where are thou?  You need to hurry u and get here!