WE GOT THE CALL!!

It's happened, Shawn got a double transplant!!!! We got the call Sunday evening @ 7:55 from Baylor in Dallas. We were down there by midnight and had a night full of tests. By morning his family arrived and we waited for last minute tests on Shawn and the donated organs. His surgery started at 1:44 pm on Monday December 13, 2010 and was expected to last around 6 hours but he was out of surgery at 6:30pm. He was in tremendous pain right after he woke up which was expected, and was in ICU til Wednesday evening. So far so good, his kidney produced 10 liters of urine the first 24 hours, and his pancreas his keeping his blood sugars under 160 so far. He has been talking since the first night and has been alert and is really looking good. This all seems like a dream and i don't know if I have even absorbed everything, it just happened so fast. He was on the donor list for month!!

I am so thankful to the donor's family for giving the gift of life to my husband Shawn, there are no words that can express the gratitude we feel for them and many thoughts and prayers to his family. We do know that the donor was a 20 year old male from the Beaumont, TX area that was in a car accident and suffered head trauma. I am pretty sure I found out who the young man was by doing some research online it has been very emotional finding out things about him. I have many posts from the past 3 days on my facebook page if you would like to read up on the details.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the kind thoughts and prayers as our family goes through this life changing experience. This is going to be the BEST Christmas EVER!!!!!

Felicia Hull

Finally!!!

Last Monday we received good news!! We were notified that Shawn was put on the Transplant list to receive a Pancreas and Kidney. We are so happy and can't wait til we get the "Call". It took all this time to complete the pre-transplant testing and the commitee met and approved his case. The only other set back is that the pre- transplant coordinator from Baylor called and said that Shawn's insurance will only approve him to get the procedure done in Dallas and not in Fort Worth. So that cuts his chance in half. Since there is 2 organ banks, one in Dallas and the other in Fort Worth, he won't even be considered in the Ft. Worth bank because it is out of network according to his insurance. We still need to write down our questions and call the Coordinator back and get clarification on this further.
But we are staying positive and flowing with our routine week by week. Everytime Shawn's phone rings my heart skips a beat, because I know we can get the call any time of day and night and we just can't wait. My heart aches for the day where my husband will no longer be sick and can live a normal life with just a memory of the days when he was so sick.

Felicia Hull

Shawn has been feeling pretty darn good the last couple of days!! He has had more energy before, after, and in between his dialysis treatments. We are waiting on a letter from the Transplant facility in Dallas to set up his testing to find a donor. Everything is finally coming together for us in regards of financial, insurance,and treatment. I am so thankful!!

Sorry I haven't wrote in a while...so much has happened in the last month!! Shawn was admitted in the hospital on May 24, 2010 because he had shortness of breath, and we found out he was in fluid overload. They started dialysis treatments in the hospital for 3 days before they let him go home. He was a changed man, from his looks to his energy level. I had almost forgot how his face and skinny legs looked before all the swelling. Then that following Monday he started his treatments at the dialysis center in Denton. The first week was good, he had early appointments and they started off slow and he felt really good. His appetite came back, and his energy was awesome, he was just ready to go go go.

Now this week is completely different and I am sure it will continue to be up and down. They changed his schedule to 4:30 in the afternoon and we are don't home til 10:00pm. I think on Monday they took too much off. He was very swollen from the weekend and they took off 4.5 kilos which is 9 lbs., and he experienced leg cramps and started vomiting his last hour of treatment and continued to after we got home. He had no energy tuesday and wednesday and vomited again Wednesday night after treatment. He has complained of terrible headaches every day too, probably a combination of his blood pressure being high and the treatment.

It is so hard to see him go through this and know that you can't make him feel better. I have tried to avoid waiting in the waiting area at the center b/c the patients are so depressed and just plain tired of going through this, and it just gets you down. I don't want him to end up feeling that way at all, he has to stay here on this earth for many reasons including his son Landon and I. We love him sooooooooo much and I pray for him every day to feel better!!

Well Shawn is still not doing very good. He has been in bed all week with no appetite and vomiting. We had an appointment with his surgeon yesterday and he cleared him for dialysis, and next friday we see his kidney doctor. Tomorrow I am gonna try very hard to get Shawn up and out of the house, we have to get Mother Day's cards and gifts for my cousins baby shower this weekend. Wish us luck!

Well yesterday Shawn got out of the house, he went to Winstar with his parents for a while, then watched the Kentucky Derby, and last night he went out to eat with his parents. Landon and I went to Lawton, OK to visit my mom and sister, so I made sure Shawn wasn't going to be by himself all day.

And today he isn't feeling very well. He is SOOO swollen all the way up to his face. His feet and legs are like 3 times bigger than normal and he says it's pretty painful. He has been vomiting today and his blood sugar is way high, in the 400's. I am hoping the Doctor will start dialysis or something very soon, I don't know how much longer he can be like this. It's very sad to watch him go through this knowing that I can't fix him even though I wish I could.

We have an appointment with his surgeon on Tuesday and kidney doctor on Friday, so maybe between both of them they will do something for Shawn soon.

Felicia Hull

Auction and Fish Fry for Shawn Hull

Well we have finally booked a band to play @ Shawn's benefit and we are sooo excited! So Robby White and his band have confirmed to play for us.

So come and out and bring your family and friends to the VFW in Gainesville, TX on May 29, 2010 to enjoy a night of fun, great food, an auction, and live music, all for a good cause! Hope to see you there!!

Felicia Hull