Dad fits into his letterman jacket again.

My Grandpa Barrett(his dad) ppainted that picture of him that he's holding!

I think my dad is the handsomest 60 year old! Lainie (my sister in law) took this picture of him the other day.

I want to point something out though. See how thin dads face is? He's lost a lot of weight...but see his belly? That's fluid retention+a hernia. :( Not good.

Love ya daddy-o!

lol! I accidently posted this to my blog insted of dad's! Oh well! I will leave it here and put it on his too!

HI!

I mean this in a friendly, "I am being honest and you will still love me" sort of a way...but, I have been looking at blogs of friends and family and I am so dissapointed in the number of people who haven't posted about my dads blog. Maybe they facebooked about it and I don't know it cuz I am not on there? And I know that all of like 6 people looked at my bog before I stopped blogging for a few months and that out of those 6 only 2 have returned! *sigh* I wish I could get on the radio or TV and just plea with people to help me save my dad! I feel like we just can't do this on our own...and when I sit and take my emotions out of it...I KNOW we aren't! There have been a few donations made to my dad by people we don't even know...not to mention the ones made by people we know and love. There are people who go into my moms bakery have offered help...their wards High Priest Group is taking over the pancake breakfast we were planning (we didn't een ask for that)...people have been wonderful. And he is getting insurance when a month ago we didn't even think was possible. There have been huge blessings. And those are what I need to focus on. That and the fact that Heavenly Father has a plan for my dad...and He's the only one who can heal him.

But there are some real and raw feelings involved...and today I felt like being a little more honest than I usually am! :)

Now, go visit my dad's blog and than blog about it so I can feel better! :) (lol!)

http://www.aliverformurray.blogspot.com/

Dad's Blog

My dad's blog is up and running (minus the PayPal button).

Go check it out! Than blog about it! (facebook+twitter+tell everyone you know!) (please,please,pretty please!)

http://www.aliverformurray.blogspot.com/

(thank you Angela!)

I found this on our flip. :)

(pause my playlist)

Man, I am tired. I have 14 mosquito bites that have had me awake since 4:30 this morning. I am not too pleased. I got them at Show Low park. The kids and I were taking a walk and we must have walked right into a swarm without knowing it. I got all these bites in less that 20 seconds. Good news is they attacked me and pretty much left the kids alone.

In other news.I found something good about Pres. Obama. This PCIP Insurance plan that is run through the National Finance Center is sounding like it will be a major blessing to my family. The most out of pocket we will have to spend for a calendar year is $12,000. (That covers anything...including organ transplants) That is a huge difference from $200,000(just to get started). Pray that he will qualify. There are only 3 qualifications. 1.)Be a US citizen (he is...even if he doesn't look like one!) 2.)Haven't had insurance for the past 6 months. (check!) 3.) Have a letter from Dr. stating what the pre-existing condition is+some other info. If all goes well...he will be covered by September 1st! The premium is $450 a month. We still need to do some fundraising......but this is sounding SO much more do-able. Plus, they will cover the donor as well. (Liver transplants can be from deceased or living donors.)

Anna, (who helps keep me from complete insanity by cleaning up after us once in a while) just rubbed fresh garlic on my mosquito bites. (She's from Guatemala...) It feels better already....but do I really want to go around smelling like this? People will think I forgot deodorant this morning...(which I did)...but...this smell ain't gonna help. I think it's time for a shower.

Dad was admitted yesterday so he can get tests ran ASAP instead of paying $3000 in advance and than waiting for results. I don't know who his specialist is...but right now I think he's great! He basically told my dad at his appointment  yesterday (mom was with him), "You are in lots of pain and having a hard time breathing." My dad was like...."well....I think my pain level is more of a 2 or 3 and I can breathe fine" and the doctor said, "No. You are in a lot of pain and having a hard time breathing and we are going to admit you." Later that night they drained two and a half liters of fluid off of dad's abdomen and they are going to start him of a supplement that will hopefully reduce the fluid retention. Other good news is that the hospital told my mom about an insurance plan that covers preexisting conditions...as long as you have not been insured for the past 6 months (although I have not found where it says that on their website yet.) My parents haven't had insurance for years...so that's not going to be a problem. This will help a TON when it comes to transplant cost and being able to get things rolling before having all the money raised. A transplant surgeon that they spoke with yesterday who does transplants in Tuscon said that they needed $200,000 before they could get things going.

Here is a link to the Pre-existing Conditions Insurance Plan website (click on the name) in case you or anyone you know might be in a situation where they could apply.  Some states aren't not listed on the site. If that is the case for you than I think THIS is the site you should go to.

GOT LIVER?

Okay...so...my dad is very sick. I am not gonna sugar coat things. Fact is that this week he saw his doctor and he told my dad that he's got another year to live if he doesn't get a new liver. Well...we are not gonna sit around with our bottm lip hanging to the ground. What we gotta do is get a liver. The great thing about liver transplants in that you can have a live donor. The bad thing is that all this costs lots and lots of money. My parents do not have medical insurance and they make too much to qualify for state insurance. I don't know how that's possible when their medical bills already total almost as much as their annual income...(something is dang wrong with the way they decided who gets goverment help and who doesn't!). SO! We need to start fundraising ASAP in a major, raise lots of money sort of a way! From what I can see from the little bit of research I have done, his transplant all included can cost around $500,000+. Yeah...that's a lot of money.