Update 11/11/09 from Tina Meyer:

Hello everyone. I bring news of Brian and Maureen from UCLA.

Brian continues to struggle with the accumulation of toxins in his blood as his liver no longer supports his bodies needs. As the amonia levels rise, the brain is affected and confusion occurs due to encephalopathy. Brian is receiving treatments to attempt to clear the amonia from is body. The level was over 300 yesterday. Mo just sent a text saying it is down to 168! Every effort is being made to continue to bring it down and keep it down. Brian has not yet begun dialysis to assist the work that his kidneys are doing, but this is likely in the near future to do all that is possible to clear toxins from his bloodstream.

Bri remains at UCLA and his status on the liver transplant list has been upgraded to "urgent". Dr. Durazo (Bri's transplant surgeon) informed him early Monday that the team was moving "full steam ahead" towards transplant within the month if at all possible. Due to his very frail condition, most likely, Brian will remain in the hospital and not be discharged home while he awaits surgery. Maureen is staying with friends nearby and hopes to return to Temecula for work on Thursday and Friday of this week. Many of her coworkers have donated time once she uses up her available time off. She is hoping to save these days for the transplant and post transplant period. Dan and Drew remain at home and will help to maintain the house as Maureen will be traveling back and forth when she can in the coming weeks.

Brian is also receiving nutrition through a special line that is placed in blood vesel in his neck that delivers nutrients directly to the heart to be pumped out to his body with every heart beat. He is receiving electrolytes, calcium, sodium and albumin to meet his bodies basic needs. A naso-gastric tube has been placed into his stomach, and he is receiving oxygen to help keep his heart and brain healthy. Yesterday, Brian was having some irregular heart beats that could be due to the imbalance in electrolytes in his blood. These irregular beats have resolved today but he remains closely monitored.

To better care for his needs Brian was moved to the Intensive Care Unit this afternoon. The insurance company has not yet authorized the liver transplant or the use of dialysis. Dr. Durazo has stated that they may move forward with the transplant without authorization if necessary. Dr. Durazo initially stated that transplant would occur within a months time. Mo reports that yesterday, the doctor stated that he will most likely transplant in 2 weeks time. We do not know anything about the availability of a liver for Brian. He is too ill for a live donor transplant as the small percentage of liver that is transplanted from a living donor is not sufficient to provide for Brians needs. Bri is still not able to talk on the telephone or to receive or send emails. Maureen remains off work and has been able to stay with Brian since his admission on Sunday night. Brians Mom ,along with his brothers Jim and John have been able to spend time with Brian and Mo, as well as Mo's brother Mike. Of course visitors to the ICU are limited. The wheels are in motion to begin fundraising for the necessary monies needed to cover unmet medical costs.





That's all the news from today. Brian is worse in some ways and better in others. It is extremely important and very good news that he is responding to the treatment to bring the amonia levels down. Maureen sends her thanks to everyone and asks that we all continue to pray unceasingly.

As always, Brian sends his love to all and humbly asks for your prayers. He hopes to be able to send his own messages very soon! Please pass this news on to all of Brians friends, and remain alert to updates and calls to action as efforts to achieve a successful transplant move into full swing. I will update again as soon as there is any news. As always, please feel free to send me email addresses to add to our distribution list. Feel free to email or call me at (909) 240-3074 and I am happy to do whatever we can to facilitate connections and gather resources.

Warm regards to everyone,

Tina