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Kidney Transplant

Followup

Family Changes

In March Sam's wife Tina, aged 28, underwent a hysterectomy. By the end of April she was back at work. Charles had surprised everyone when he and his wife moved back home and took up former jobs. When Charles was home for his birthday in February, the recent rejection problem for Sam was still very fresh in everyone's mind. Charles and his mother expressed some of their feelings at that time.

By the end of April 1998, the weather was improving and Sam's situation was again stable. Family life had returned to "normal", in contrast with the surgeries and uncertainties of the past few months. Sam was receiving care again from his primary nephrologist. Lab results remained on a steady plateau of 3.3 creatinine and BUN of 40. Blood pressure was controlled. CellCept had been changed back to the original Imuran because CellCept had not seemed to make any difference in the kidney function but was far more expensive than Imuran. Phosphorus supplement had been stopped. Sam's energy level had improved and his main side effect from medications remained shaky hands. He had requested information about a new anti-rejection medication, Zenapax®, recently approved by the FDA. It was disappointing to learn that the drug was for use in the first few weeks post-transplant, and would not help him with the chronic rejection problem that occurred eight months after surgery.