Hepatologist Appointment - Hoops to Jump Thru

It's taking time to get an appointment with a hepatologist.  CTCA is setting everything up.  The hepatologist's office had a VERY lengthy referral form.  That was faxed over to them yesterday.  They required lots of additional records.  That was faxed over, too.  They need a scan.  That can't be faxed.  It has to be mailed.  CTCA is sending that thru expedited mail.  Once the hep. office has everything, hopefully, we'll get an appointment in 1 to 2 weeks - that's the fastest timetable allowed on the referral.

CTCA worked as fast as they could to get
 all the paperwork over to the hepatologists office.

If this doctor were part of CTCA, we probably would have already had our appointment.  They have lots of specialists there, but this is one field they don't have.  In fact, if you are a liver patient who lives in any city in Georgia other than Atlanta or just north of Atlanta, you're out of luck.  Prepare to take your ailing liver on a long haul.

Maybe, by the time Rudy sees this specialist, his acute infection will have subsided.  

Good grief.  Some days I feel like I'm a medical student and let's just say I don't think I'm going to be finishing at the top of the class.   We have so many questions.  Feel free to add to these - 

• If the acute hepatitis goes away (and just becomes antibodies) will he really be able to start Novolumab?  I read just enough online to wonder about that.
• If he can't use Novolumab, what then?
• Hep. is spread thru bodily fluids and blood.  Aside from the obvious precautions, is there anything we need to be cautioned about?
• Are caretaker psychiatric evaluations available at CTCA?  I think I may need one.  Seriously.