Journal entry by JoAnn Krienitz —
Tuesday August 24th Dale was scheduled for his kidney transplant biopsy at Mayo Hospital in Rochester, MN. This was the second attempt to have the biopsy after the first procedure on July 26 was postponed due to an infection, which he was put on Penicillin for 3 weeks to aggressively kill this infection. He met with the Nephrology Fellow who reviewed all his urine and blood tests results that were done at 6:40am. The Fellow noted that his WBC (white blood count) was elevated and said she thought we should not go forward with the biopsy. After conferring with Dr. Naim Issa they decided that the WBC was not that elevated and he had no other symptoms of infection and to continue with the scheduled biopsy, whew!
We had a virtual meeting yesterday afternoon with Dr. Issa to go over the results of the biopsy. The report was very positive, showing no rejection of Super Bean 2, YAY! The report went into detail showing mild IFTA with very focal inflammation in the area of fibrosis and there was some mild arteriosclerosis. This degree of inflammation does not qualify for acute cellular rejection and could be a remnant from previous pyelonephritis which will be monitored for now without any treatment.
He remains anemic; more recently his iron studies showed low iron stores with low ferritin and low transferrin saturation. He has not tolerated oral iron supplementation so he is scheduled for infusion with IV Feraheme on Monday at the Mayo Clinic hospital, closer to home than making the 2 hour trip to Rochester. This should help with his low energy level since the transplant. Dr. Issa also put him on a daily regimen of 1000 IU Vitamin D.
Dr. Issa shared one more bit of great news. Dale’s Covid Antibody level was the highest he has seen in any of their Kidney Transplant patients. He did get the Covid 19 booster shot prior to the biopsy, which was recommended for all immunosuppressed transplant patients. The Covid vaccine works!
Thank you for your prayers and support throughout Dale’s Transplant Journey,
Love JoAnn and Dale
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