A long overdue update

Happy Holidays!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.  For the first time ever we did not travel for Christmas.  Not having to deal with traffic was a welcomed change.  We have spent the week in SF, enjoying the spirit of the city.  We cannot be with the masses but it is fun to see the little alleys of Russian Hill and look at the decorations throughout the neighborhood.

Apologies for the delayed post, the past couple weeks have been crazy, ending with labs on Christmas Eve, which was an adventure.  Laura has had a number of tests and we have been receiving the results and updates in a rolling fashion.  As we have discussed in previous posts, it appears the second transplant will be more complicated and have more bumps than the first.

After the last bronch and labs they concluded that Laura has a new Staph infection as well as a new fungus in the lungs.  They have prescribed a oral antibiotic (luckily not IV) to treat the Staph and we will see how well that works in the next couple of weeks.

As a standard post transplant procedure Laura does Ampho twice a day as a preventative measure against any fungus. This is a dry medication that we dissolve with sterile water and the dilute with more sterile water into a syringe. They will continue her on that treatment as well as add a new oral medication.  No one seems to be too alarmed about either of these infections but it does raise your nerves each time something new arises.  A bit unsettling.

The finals test results that we received were in regards to antibodies.  Antibodies have to do with Laura's B cells attacking the lungs. This was far more concerning than the staph and fungus.  There is a DSA blood test (donor-specific antibodies) to identify this. The doctor's say that this does happen and they can get it back under control by increasing the Prograf.  Increasing the Prograf then decreases Laura's already low immune system, increasing the risk of more infections.  Always a balancing act.  This will be followed closely in the coming weeks.  Having to absorb all this right before the holiday led to a delayed post.

Last week they did not do the procedure to drain the fluid in the lung cavity.  It was decided to wait until after the new year to see what happens.  In general she has had a much easier time managing the edema than after the first transplant.  Hopefully the fluid worked itself out of the system and if not they will address this in the coming weeks.

As for the day to day, we are walking and working out daily.  Laura can feel the infections in the lungs but they are not slowing her down.  Walking over Russian Hill or up Telegraph are common, charging hard.

We hope everyone has a wonderful new year.  Wish we could be with you all. We will raise a glass to you all as wonderful friends and family.  

CHEERS!