#22 A Bit of a Scare

Deep breath and a sigh of relief.   Ok, yesterday (Saturday) mom went to the hospital for her routine blood draw and check up which is common after a transplant.  I was at Music Hall watching a kiddy concert with the little girl I watch.  I randomly run into my cousin and one of his daughters.  They ask how mom is doing and I report she is doing great, and how amazing this whole thing has been, yadda yadda yadda.  I return the little girl I watch back to her father (he plays in the orchestra and was also playing in the kiddy show).  I walk outside, and call my father while walking to the car.  He informed me that mom just called and that she was still at the hospital.  There was a problem and they have admitted her.  I could hear the tremble in dad's voice and it immediately made my heart sank and all the what ifs set in.  I knew it wasn't an emergency, like she's going to the OR or ER, or anything like that.  But it immediately made me think gasp.....rejection.  

She had a mini-unltrasound and a kidney biopsy.  They normally go thru the back, but since Fred (her kidney) is in the front, they stuck the needle thru her stomach (she didn't feel it) and grabbed a sample of the kidney.  Results........Her Creatine level was waaaayyy too high.  And that was due to the amount of Prograf she was taking.  

Ok so apparently immunosuppressant drugs are kind of like anti-depressants.  There is no way to know what and how much to give someone that will yield the best results.  Growing up, my best friend had all these problems with hyper-activity and attention problems, etc.  Turns out all the meds they gave her where what was causing her behavior because it wasn't the right stuff.  So that's what happened to mom, She started out being prescribed Prograf and was instructed to take 7 pills at 8am and 7 more at 8pm.  They then dropped it to six after her first blood draw.  Well turns out that it was still too much.  It was by no means anyones fault.  The doctors didn't do anything wrong.  She is not rejecting her kidney and everything is doing great, she's great, Fred's great.  This is why they monitor so frequently after transplant.  

I'm happy to report she is back home!!