Another Kidney Rejection
The call from my coordinator came late last week, and after figuring that I wouldn’t be able to get a biopsy until Monday, anyway, I went to the hospital Monday morning, had a kidney biopsy that afternoon, and stayed until the next afternoon. My numbers from Thursday showed the same issue as before, with all of my kidney numbers way off. I really didn’t want to stay at the hospital very long, and definitely didn’t want to stay over the weekend, which is what they wanted. They had me do that last time, and basically just watched my numbers, which I can do at home, poked me for blood every morning at 4:00, and kept me locked up with a boring renal diet (which I really don’t need, but it’s not a battle I’ve chosen to take up yet). The doctor upped my doses of prednisone and Myfortic on Friday, and I was already feeling better by the time I got to the hospital. The biopsy showed that there had been a rejection, but it was stopped with medication.
My numbers are better now, and I’m back home, but still dragging. I think the rejection drugs are just wearing me down, plus the biopsy is a pretty good poke in the side. And now I’m back on a lower dose of prednisone, so not quite as loose as the last five days or so.
So, what’s next? The doctor is looking into another immunosuppressant that is given intravenously, which I may try next week. If that works, they can try lowering some of the others, and I might have fewer side effects. I feel like an old man a lot of the time, slow and a little unsteady. My muscles and bones are sore, and I feel heavy moving around. When I was taking 60 mg of prednisone I was feeling much better—I couldn’t sleep, and couldn’t sit still either.
Still, it’s nothing like dialysis. I’m not nauseous all of the time, I don’t have constant headaches, and I don’t have to sleep all the time. It’s a big improvement. I’m a work in progress.
At the moment my situation is that as soon as I start to get a decent immune system—and we’re talking about a number that still shows up as red in your lab numbers because it’s very low, but a little closer to a normal range—my body goes after the new kidney. My liver is still doing great. Those numbers are fantastic. I wish my body could cool it on the new kidney so we can move on together and have a good relationship. I’m certainly ready.