A Helping Hand from a 'Con' Artist.

Hello, everyone! Leslie here! Sadly, my dad hasn't been able to update lately due to lack of a functioning computer, but he should be back soon. As for his status, his body is adjusting fairly normally to the transplant, and he's doing well. Things aren't over yet, as they're still working on options for his pancreas, as the first transplant was unsuccessful. There is definitely still hope for his pancreas!

In the meantime, we continue to raise funds for the expenses involved in his transplant. We received a wonderful gift recently from a very special person, in fact!

During my adventures as a convention artist, I've met many other fellow artists who enjoy the same passion for comic art that I do. Among them is a very talented and highly skilled artist named Wil Woods, popular for his fanart and parody art. He does art for a living, and his works get much attention at the Artist Alley in numerous conventions. He has even been featured as a special guest at these functions. However, even more impressive is his caring personality. I first met him at our local convention JAMPcon, 2010 now replaced by Anime Blast Chattanooga this year. We met again at Anime Weekend Atlanta in 2010. We have since our first meeting kept in touch through deviantART, one of the largest art communities in the world and where Wil displays his amazing works.

While in need of back surgery himself and with no medical insurance to speak of, he offered to organize a special event at Kawa Con 2011 in St. Louis, MO, in order to raise money for dad's transplant. The convention was held March 11-13. Together with other artists donating prints, original paintings, and collectibles to the cause, they participated in an auction to help raise money to help toward the expenses of Dad's transplant surgery.

His efforts have been such a blessing, and we're so thankful to have had such loving assistance from Wil. To see more of his artwork, visit his gallery at Wil-Woods.deviantart.com.

Kidney Transplant News!

On Monday, September the 13, 2010, my family, family in Christ, friends, and I were witnesses of a great miracle from God: I received a new kidney in a double kidney/pancreas transplant. From the moment I received the kidney, it has been working wonderfuly! Although, the pancreas failed after a day, I know that everything that happens is under God's control and for our own good. Also, I am more than amazed by the love, encouragement, and support you've been showing me. Thank you, sooo much!
Now, a month has transpired and the kidney continues performing very well...for that, I am so grateful.
I have to admit that it has been rather difficult to catch up with my blog, due to the twice-a-week visits to Emory Hospital in Atlanta at early hours of the morning. However, now that they have been reduced to once by-weekly, it will give me the chance to catch up in several areas. I have even gotten the permission from the transplant surgeon to return to work on the 19th of this month. All I have to do is to be extremely careful in avoiding hand-shaking and hugs for now, since my inmune system has been greatly lowered with medications to avoid kidney rejection by my own antibodies. In spite of having to take these medications (which comprises of about 25pills a day), my inmune system will eventually be allowed to build up slightly.
I personally am grateful for everything is going on with me, and by that I mean that I feel much better, my quality of life has increased, and my diet is not as restrictive as it used to be. In addition to that, I might not have to ever deal with dialisis, as long as I take good care of myself.
One more thing: regarding the diabetes issue, there are great chances of having either a pancreas transplant, or a insulin-producing islets transplant as of next year. I cherish your prayers for this upcoming endeavor.
May God bless you exceedingly!
In Christ,
Victor

The real deal!

Hey, everyone! Leslie here, Victor's daughter. If you've been following all the ongoings of my dad's transplant, you know that we've had many interesting adventures. Well, there's another adventure that just came up. A big adventure. An adventure of gargantuan proportions! Exciting news is on the way, but I'll leave that up to Dad! =) In the meantime, I'm going to continue to help raising funds to help cover the costs involved in this transplant. This weekend I'll be in the Cobb Galleria convention center in Atlanta, attending a convention where I'll be selling my artwork to raise the funds.

Please continue to keep my dad in your prayers! What a journey we've all been on, and I'm sure he'll have quite the news coming soon!

A "Practice Run"

My son was knocking on the bedroom door. I woke up kinda groggy due to the side effects of some of my medications. All of the sudden the thought came to me: "I am late for work". But he told me: "Emory is on the phone". So I answered the phone, and the lady on the other side of the line asked me: "Is this Victor Delgado?", to which I answered, "Yes, I am". She, then, asked me if I could show up at Emory for an SKP Transplant. I was still drowsy, so I had to ask again what did she say. She proceeded then to say that it was for a simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplant. Also, she asked me if I could be at the hospital by 5:00 am. After recovering from the shock of the news, I asked for the time and she said it was 2:24 am. My instant response was that if it was possible to arrive at Emory around 5:30, close to 6:00. She mentioned the need to be there as close to 5:00 as possible. When I hung up the phone, my wife, Marta, was already calling my sister-in-law,Nancy, who is a vital member of our team and my official driver to Atlanta. She was already home within 20 minutes.
While those 20 minutes transpired, a comical chaos was taking place at home, trying to pack up the bare necessities needed for the surgery. We managed to leave my house around 2:50 am. Nancy turned the hazard blinkers on, which helped to put us in Atlanta at 4:18 am (it took us about an hour and 28 minutes to get there!).
We arrived at the hospital, I was admitted. and then a thousand questions followed my arrival (specially about my medical history).
Worth mentioning is the fact that since I was going to get prepped for surgery, I was already fasting--since 6:30, the evening before ( if I have known better, I would have pigged-out until midnight!).
Around 3 hours and 16 blood vials later, I was place in what it was going to be my recovery room. It was so exciting, specially when one of the recovery nurses would come from time to time to give us an update on the time of the almost taken place surgery. Different nurses would come in one from Kenya, another one from Pakistan...all to check my vitals (oh, I forgot to mentioned the X-Rays of my chest taken--during the which, I was trying to bribe the nurse into letting me hug the snack machine and get something to eat from it...however, it didn't work).
Amazingly, all throughout this time my wife, my sister-in-law, and I had just a sense of peace during this process that God only can provide.
Around 2:00 pm, the kidney surgeon came to tell us that another surgeon went to Macon to remove the organs of the donor that was on life support. He also mentioned that the earliest the surgery would take place would be 7:00 pm.We were patiently awaiting. But the hunger pangs was nothing easy to bear. Marta and Nancy had a small snack consisting of juice and crackers, while I was savoring a few packs of granulated sugar (my blood sugar became low during the wait).
Finally, around 5:20 pm, the surgeon came in indicating that he had a bit of
bad news: the kidney that he received was in good shape, but the pancreas wasn't. Therefore it was best not to proceed with the surgery. I believe that he was surprised when we reacted with such a sense of peace, even telling him that God is in control. He also said that I was on the top of the list, which at the same time was very exciting.
The fact of knowing that God loves us, he wants to give us the very best when we trust in Him, and knowing that He's in control of everything, made this journey, not only a good practice run, but also an exciting and hopeful one!

What's the latest...

It has been a while since I have posted anything. These last couple of weeks, however, I've been visiting my allergist as the last, I do hope, evaluation required by emory. As of now, I am on what they call INACTIVE transplant list, pending on the results of the allergist. This might change, though. The hematologist at Emory wants to find out why my eosinophil (white blood cells) count is very high, so this might mean more testing. The normal count is up to 350 per ml, mine is 1200. Anyway, the allergist nurse performed an allergy test on me. We found out I am allergic to almost everything, including allergic to myself. I told her that I am allergic mostly to medical bills, which I am sure most of the patients are too. Spring time is the worst with all the seeds and pollens traveling in the air. So, there it is.
INACTIVE means that I am on the list for transplant; I am even moving up on the list, but if a kidney and a pancreas becomes available, I cannot receive them due to more testings on my inmune system to make sure my body can endure the surgery.
So, please , keep praying for me. This means the world to me. Prayer works!!!
Also, if the Lord puts it into you heart to support me in whichever way you may desire to, I'll be inmensely grateful for it. God bless you!!!

Silent Auction

On June the 8th, the Shallowford plant of the Olan Mills, Inc., celebrated a silent auction. Over 160 items from kind people and companies were auctioned. They were beautifully displayed. There were items such as furniture, frames, jewelry, pictures, beauty items, and certificates to mention a few. The employees had so much fun writing down their offers knowing that they were helping me to get closer to my goal of getting a kidney/pancreas transplant. At the end of the auction, $2,000 were collected, which in my book, it is people's love at its best. God bless each one of you. You are wonderful people! My special thanks to Sue, Janet, Carolyn, Wanda, my wife, and all the people that made this auction possible. Images will be soon posted. Thanks!

Hot Dog Luncheon...

On May 21, 2010 my department at the Olan Mills, Inc. performed a fundraiser for my transplant, selling hot dogs, cole slaw, chips, sodas and pastries. It was a huge success! My co-workers and friends responded in a very giving way by donating more than the value of the meal. Thye amount raised was $1,279.30. My thanks, specially to Sylvia, Peggy, Tom, Jerry, Ken, Paul, and all other friends involved in the fundraiser.