Save Dan Johnston's life

One down and one to go! Hope everyone is surviving the pandemic. Baking some bread? Making some Tik Toks? Wearing fleece in public now? Gotta admit I am pretty much wearing 80% Lululemon because it so damn comfy, looks decent and accommodates my ascites well. ...Continue reading

Miracle Weight Loss Trick! Ascites, one of my side effects, is the buildup of fluid in the abdomen. I have it drained every week: "paracentesis". Essentially fluid goes into the liver which can't deal with it so kicks it out into the belly. Here is what my weight change typically looks like every Thursday after one hour of draining 7 litres through a massive needle. That's a typical amount but my record is 9.7 itres!

Heading into TGH for a meeting with my Anesthetist. Hopefully the last time I will see this place before going in for my transplant! With my niece @Marissa Engels

Hi Everyone! Thank you so very much for your support getting this info out there. I really hate asking anyone for help but I have to explore all options at this point in my life. I intend to keep everyone up to date to the best of my abilities as we go through this. Accordingly, here is the latest news: I spent a day at Toronto General and had several meetings and tests. ... My cardiologist has scheduled an angiogram, just out of an abundance of caution, to check out my heart, etc and clean anything so that I am 100% in that regard. Dr. Les Lilly, the head surgeon on my transplant team, advised that my MELD score (which determines transplant priority) is very stable but he expects it to get far worse very quickly (ie. 24-48 hours) at some point in the near future, at which point I will be too sick for a transplant. He thus advised, and I agreed, to accept a liver from a deceased person with Hepatitis C. This is experimental surgery but the theory is that I would prefer to have Hep C and he would rather treat me with Hep C. That is not ideal but my only reasonable option without a living donor right now. Still hoping for and working towards a living donor until then. I am so ready to just deal with this and keep moving!