Monday May 25. memorial day

Happy Monday.  Life continues to smile on me this past week and weekend. My Mom was here helping with the transition home, getting me to clinic appointments, and helping Jim around the house. We were able to get to several of the kid's events as well (track and volleyball).  Thanks again Mom!

This weekend has been awesome despite my being at the clinic all three mornings. Emma joined me on Saturday and we went to a family party that evening (thanks Diane and John!!). I did not last too long but long enough to see some great friends who did not care one whit they were chatting with a masked and gloved Maureen (these precautions will last until the post-transplant 100 day Mark).

Good friends of ours (Jim and Denise and their two amazing daughters) brought dinner to us on Sunday for a fun little BBQ.  It has been beautiful here and a wonderful weekend.

On the medical side I continue to do well post transplant. At the clinic visits I give multiple vials of blood and my medical team uses these to monitor platelet count, white and red blood cell counts,  tacrolimus/sirolimus levels and the health of my kidney and liver.

I continue to take two immunosuppressive drugs tacrolimus and sirolimus to prevent or lessen Graft vs. Host disease.  At least twice a week I have blood tests to measure the concentration of both in my blood.   For reasons I won’t pretend to understand, the concentration can vary widely from week to week in the early weeks following the transplant.  A concentration that is higher than the established therapeutic range may increase the risk of associated toxicity, including damage to the kidneys, liver and nerves. A concentration that is too low may lead to Graft vs. Host disease (GVHD develops when the donor's immune cells mistakenly attack the patient's normal cells).  Sounds  a little scary but as long as my team is measuring the concentration of these drugs in my blood I am fine – as needed they simply adjust the amount of the drug (think more pills or less pills) to keep me in the therapeutic range.

The multiple clinic visits this weekend were primarily aimed at getting me back into the therapeutic range for the immunosuppressive drug concentration in my blood.  It is quite normal for the concentrations to vary in and out of the therapeutic range and my team always gets me back on track very quickly.  All other indications (lung, kidney, liver, blood counts) are just where they are supposed to be!

Off to read my novel and enjoy a quiet house.  Thank so much for checking in!

Love Maureen