Previous Updates

May 29, 2005
Hospital Update 5/29/05 - Billy is still in the Heart Transplant Intensive Care Unit at UAB. His condition has changed several times. On Friday evening and night he had a serious set back but has stabilized since then. His blood pressure dropped significantly Friday night and the doctors had to stop all of his diuretics and start him on a medicine to help increase his blood pressure. The doctors believe this was probably caused by extensive amount of diuretics he has been on. We all knew that this was pretty much a tightrope we were walking and unfortunately we slipped off the rope for a while. Another side effect may be some stress that has been put on his kidneys. His kidney function worsened during this time and has still not completely recovered. At this time the doctors are not extremely concerned about any permanent damage to his kidneys. The decision on what to do about the diuretics will be made in the next few days. We also are still waiting to hear from the liver biopsy that was done on Friday.

May 27, 2005

Hospital Update 5/27/05 - Billy is still receiving treatment at UAB Hospital. He did develop a Staff Infection earlier in the week, but apparently the doctors were able to get it under control fairly quickly. They are continuing to adjust his diuretics in an effort to manage the excessive fluid build up in his abdomen and are still trying to be sure he is properly nourished. One problem with the diuretics is that they diminish his potassium level and he is having to receive dosages of potassium to keep him at the proper levels. Another concern has also risen with his liver. The analysis of the fluid drawn from his abdomen has shown a possible liver problem. He is undergoing another liver biopsy today (5/27) to see if any type of liver disease or damage has developed. We hope to know the results of this test soon. The doctors have said they are working hard to keep him stable and ready to receive a transplant when one is available to him. Check back here for updates on the liver biopsy and any other developments.

May 22, 2005

Hospital Update 5/27/05 - Billy was hospitalized on Thursday 5/19/05 and things have gone fairly well. He is responding fairly well to the new meds. He did have an incident Saturday evening where his blood pressure bottomed out, but it recovered back to an acceptable level within a couple of hours. He appears to be resting well and seems to actually be somewhat glad to be in the hospital where he can get appropriate medical care. It was becoming difficult to look after all of his needs at home. As of now, there is no estimate as to when he will be released from the hospital. The doctors have stated that they are concentrating on getting and keeping him stable so that he can do well when he receives a transplant which probably means he will not leave the hospital until he has received and recovered from the transplant.

May 20, 2005

Billy was hospitalized on Thursday 5/19/05 - The doctors at UAB hospitalized him to try to administer some new meds to hopefully give him some relief while waiting for his transplant. They also said that he was malnourished probably because of the excessive fluid build up in his abdomen. The doctors started one of two possible meds on Thursday. The other may be started later but there are some fairly serious side effects possible from that. He is tolerating the first med very well so far. In fact, his blood pressure has actually risen which is a good thing since his has been extremely low. The other meds may be added later based on what his doctors decide. They will also try to deal with the malnourishment while he is in the hospital. We do not know right now, but we believe there is a very good chance that he will remain in the hospital until a transplant happens.

May 13, 2005

Two Significant Updates from this week - First, after two days of intense medical evaluation we found out that Billy's youngest son Greg WILL be able to be a live kidney donor. Billy's doctors wanted someone on standby to donate a kidney in case his kidney's failed after the heart transplant. This was a significant hurdle that had to be cleared before Billy could receive his heart transplant. A big THANKS to Greg for being willing to make this sacrifice.

The second update is that Billy's doctors is considering trying a medication on Billy to try to relax his heart some so that it might be a little more efficient in it's pumping. The doctor is not sure if this will help or not, if it does he does not expect it to be significant. However, in order to administer this new medication they will have to hospitalize Billy. Next Thursday they will return for an appointment to see the doctor and they will make the final decision then. If they decide to go ahead they will probably admit him on Thursday. As of now, we do not know the length of hospital stay that will be required. It would be wonderful if his transplant were to become available shortly after he is admitted.

May 11, 2005

Billy's youngest son Greg starts evaluation - Billy's youngest son Greg will begin a two day evaluation at UAB on Wednesday May 11th. The evaluation will be to see if Greg will be healthy enough to give Billy a kidney in the case he needs one post heart transplant. We are praying that Greg will be qualified to donate, but we also pray that the need will never become a reality. The kidney doctors who have examined Billy really believe that his kidneys will survive and actually improve when he receives a new heart, however they want to be sure that they have a "Plan B" in place. Check Back over the weekend and hopefully we will have the results of the evaluation.

May 5, 2005

Significant Update On Billy's Health (05/05/05) - Billy has had two days of appointments this week in Birmingham. Monday he saw Dr. James Kirklin who is the Director of the Heart/Lung Transplant Program at UAB. Dr. Kirklin expressed a major concern about Billy's kidney failure and the potential complete failure that might happen after heart transplant. He went on to say that Billy would not be able to receive a heart transplant until there was some type of plan on the table in case his kidneys continue fail after that. You might remember that the kidney doctors and an independent Nephrologists had previously told us that there was no reason to be concerned about the kidneys at this time. There has been an ongoing "Philosophical Difference" between the heart doctors and the kidney doctors about the kidney failure. The kidney doctors strongly believe that the kidneys will improve after the heart transplant and that they should not become an issue. However, the heart doctors think post transplant kidney failure could be a real concern and they have stipulated they will not allow the heart transplant until a plan was in place to handle any kind of post transplant kidney problems. Billy's youngest son Greg was already scheduled to undergo an evaluation to see if he could be a live kidney donor, however that was not going to take place until the end of this month. Dr. Kirklin also ordered another heart cath to see the condition of his heart compared to the last cath in December.

Today (05/05/05) we went back to B'ham for the heart cath, an appointment with the Cardiologist, an appointment with the kidney transplant doctor and to have the fluid drawn off of his abdomen. Unfortunately the news from the cath was not good. According to the Cardiologist the cath showed that Billy's condition has gotten significantly worse since December and he said we were definitely running out time. He said that Billy needs a transplant soon in order to have any chance for survival. However, the kidney issue was still there. We expressed our frustration over being stuck in the middle of the differing opinions concerning the kidneys. We had tried several times to get them to move Greg's evaluation up but so far they had said that was not possible. The reality is that the 3 week wait to have that evaluation could delay any chance of the heart transplant and literally become a life and death issue. They encouraged us to talk it over with the kidney doctor personally when we saw him in the afternoon.

We went to the afternoon appointment with the kidney transplant doctor and discussed all of this. He had read the results of the Cath and realized the severity of the situation. He then had his staff move Greg's evaluation up to next Wednesday and Thursday May 11 & 12. He said we should know the results of that evaluation by next Friday. If Greg is a match then that would clear up the concerns the heart doctors have. He would then be on standby as a live kidney donor in case Billy's kidneys failed after the heart surgery. Billy's oldest son Eddy also has started the preliminary blood work to see if he would be a compatible donor, however there are some issues that will probably prevent him from being a donor.

Continued Prayers would really be appreciated at this time. This has obviously become very serious. We are asking for prayers for 1.) Billy & Joanne that they will have the strength to continue on in this process 2.) For Greg as he goes through the evaluation process and that he will be a match 3.) Finally for the Doctors that are caring for him, that they will have the wisdom and skills they need to help bring healing for Billy. As a family we all understand that this is completely in God's hand. Only He knows what will come of this and we hope that we will be willing to allow Him to work in whatever manner He sees best. As a great Christian song lyric says...."We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow".

May 2, 2005

Billy Sees UAB Director of Heart and Lung Transplant Program - Billy saw Dr. James Kirklin on May 2nd. Dr. Kirklin is the Director of the Heart and Lung Transplant Program at UAB. Dr. Kirklin is revisiting some of the issues that we have dealt with in the past. In particular he is still concerned about Billy's kidney function after his transplant. He said his intentions are to work with the Kidney doctors to be sure a plan is on the table in case the kidneys start to fail after the heart transplant. Billy's youngest son Greg is scheduled to start the evaluation process in late May to see if he would be a suitable live kidney donor if that becomes a need. Dr. Kirklin has also requested another heart cath be performed. The heart cath along with visits with the Heart Transplant doctors and Kidney transplant doctors will take place on Thursday May 5th. Please keep Billy and his doctors in your prayers!

April 20, 2005

The Greenville Advocate Does a Story - Billy and Joanne both grew up in the Greenville Alabama area and the hometown newspaper there has done a very nice story on Billy's transplant need. Click here to read the story.

April 12, 2005

No need for a kidney for now - There has been some concern that Billy might need a kidney transplant in addition to the heart. His kidneys have shown signs that they are failing and it was becoming a real concern. However after a visit with a Nephrologist (kidney specialist) at UAB on 4/11/05 that concern has lessened. The doctor said that his kidneys are indeed showing signs of failing but right now they are not bad enough to require a transplant. If fact, she really seemed to think that when he receives his heart that the improved blood flow might help his kidneys improve. They will continue to monitor this in case it this changes.

March 29, 2005

Good News - According to Billy's Transplant Coordinator at UAB they have moved him up to level 1B on the transplant list. This is the second tier in priority. The top tier (1A) is for patients with only about a 2 weeks life expectancy with out a transplant so he will be in the tier right below that. Typically level 1B is for patients who doctors believe do not have the typical 6 to 9 months to wait on a heart, but they are not facing imminent death. The unique thing about Billy's condition is that it is so rare that there really is not much data to predict how his condition will progress so there really is not a true way to put a time frame on him. It is apparent though that his condition has worsened over the last few months and the quicker a transplant can come the better.

Several Fund Raising events will be coming up soon. They include a Golf Tournament, a Raffle and the Auction of a very special item from a very popular Country Music Star that is being donated specifically to help Billy. Stay tuned!

Today is the official beginning of this website. The purpose of this site is to allow family and friends to keep up with Billy as he awaits his heart transplant and to be here to keep you updated when he goes for his transplant!

April 20, 2005

April 12, 2005

March 29, 2005