And the journey begins...

I will do my best to keep this up to date, as I am new to blogging on this kind of media! --Mireya

Robert (aka, Bob by me...) will be having a long awaited surgery of a kidney transplant, donated by his awesome sister Lili, from Las Vegas, Nevada. It will take place tomorrow at 8:30am, but with registration starting @ 6am! EEh gads....

All this could not have been possible without all your prayers, and of course, God's merciful grace of granting such a long awaited request! This journey started about 4 years ago in 2004. Robert was in the hospital for 3 weeks in the intensive care unit at UCLA Hospital, in Westwood. At the time, the doctors had no idea what was happening or why 75% of his lungs were filled with liquid and blood... after 2-1/2 weeks of tests and a lung biopsy, it was concluded that he has a rare immune disease called microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). You may read about this on this website:

http://vasculitis.med.jhu.edu/typesof/polyangiitis.html, or http://www.vasculitisfoundation.org/microscopicpolyangiitis.

Because of this disease, his kidneys were scarred to the point of them no longer functioning. Since 2004, he's been on dialysis with the hopes of receiving a transplant from a donor list, however, by God's grace and His timing, his sister Lili, after extensive testing and getting healthy, was a match for kidney donorship! Praise the Lord!

Anyhoo, here we are today, August 6, 2008, @ UCLA!

Lili was prepped and sent in @ 7:43am, and following her wasBob, at 8:25am. Attached are some pictures of this morning...






If you wish to visit him, he'll be at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Westwood, CA.

This is the address:
757 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095

Hospital Information:
(310) 825-9111
Patient Information
(310) 825-8611
Emergency Department
(310) 825-2111

http://www.uclahealth.org/body_med.cfm?id=572&oTopID=572