Another Good Biopsy!

Hi everyone!

I haven't posted lately because Greg has been doing very well since the rejection scare around Christmas!  He had another biopsy last week to check for rejection and it came back as a 1.  This is great news because his immune system hasn't been completely wiped out, and it's not attacking his heart - so there is a good balance.  The doctors have increased some of his medications however, to increase the protection that he does have (if it was a 0 they wouldn't have increased anything). 

He also found out that he does not need to wear the mask as often anymore.  He still needs to in certain especially dangerous situations but he's very thankful to have it off in the student union when talking to students! 

Thank you for praying that his heart would continue to be protected from rejection.  We are very grateful to have a team of people who are committed to praying for us!

Love,
Elise

Rejection over!

We just found out that Greg's biopsy was a 1, which means that he's not rejecting anymore!  The lab technician even took the time to write on the report that he looks "soo much better than last time"!   Woohoo!!  We are so thrilled and thankful! 

He'll be on an increased dose of diuretics to help control his blood pressure and reduce some of the fluid he has on him right now, and then he'll be going back in 6 weeks for another biopsy.  Since the last round of steroids worked he won't need to be on any long-term dose of steroids and they don't have to change his treatment plan.

Thank you for your prayers!  And thank God for healing his heart!!

Good news

We haven't heard from the transplant coordinator this week, so we're assuming that what she said is true: no news is good news.  Which probably means that the rest of the blood tests came back with normal results, and that the scare over Greg's liver was caused by the steroids he was given and not some sort of liver damage or failure.  We are VERY glad about this and so thankful to all of you who have been praying that his liver would be fine. 

He's been feeling a little better and stronger each day since Saturday.  We've done some walking outside and he's needed to stop less often for breaks, so his stamina is improving!  Hopefully this is a good sign that he's not still having rejection and that the swelling of his heart from the rejection is going away.  He has another biopsy on Monday, so by some time on Tuesday we should have the results.  I'll let you know what we find out.

Thank you for your prayers!
Elise

Good news about Greg's liver

You may have already heard that we had to leave the Radiate conference in Baltimore yesterday due to blood test results that indicated significant damage to Greg's liver.  The transplant team wanted Greg to come back immediately so that he could have an ultrasound on his liver this morning and a series of follow-up blood tests to determine what was going on.

So far, we have good news!  The ultrasound of his liver was completely normal!  Additionally, one of the concerning blood test results was back to normal and the other was significantly improved.  We are still waiting to hear the results from the rest of the test (we won't hear until Monday unless there is an emergency) but Greg's transplant coordinator was very relieved at the results so far and thinks that the problem may be reversing itself.  It's likely that the steroid treatment he had in the hospital sent his body in to a sort of "shock" that caused his liver to release a bunch of enzymes indicating damage - and that the further he gets from the treatment, the better his liver will be.  The other possible causes will hopefully be ruled out as they get the blood test results back.

This is a huge answer to prayer and such a relief - some pretty scary possibilities were running through our minds!  Thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for us these past two days.

Greg is still not feeling well - and he actually slept most of today because he is just completely exhausted.  His coordinator said that extreme fatigue is one of the side effects of the IV drug he had in the hospital, and that being on so many steroids in such a short period of time would leave him feeling really poorly for a while.  She is concerned about his shortness of breath though, because that would not be explained by the steroids. 

His next biopsy to check for rejection is January 9th.  Hopefully we'll have some great news that his liver is completely fine by Monday!

Thanks,
Elise

Going home today!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Greg is going home today!  He's receiving his last dose of steroids right now so hopefully he'll be home early this afternoon!  He's feeling pretty awful, but glad to be getting out of the hospital.  We won't know if this treatment was effective until his biopsy in 2 weeks.  We're praying that it is!  If not, he'll come back to the hospital for another round of treatments.

The great news is that we'll still be able to go to the conference in Baltimore!  He's probably not going to be feeling very well (it'll take some time for the swelling of his heart to go down) but he's looking forward to being there with our students.

Thanks for all of your prayers this week!  Merry (early) Christmas!
Elise

Still Rejecting

The hospital just called with the results of the biopsy - as you can tell from the title of this post Greg's still rejecting.  He's now at a 2R which is actually a higher level of rejection than before.  It seems like the oral anti-rejection drugs didn't do anything to help.

He's getting a shower and then we're heading in to the hospital.  He'll be on IV anti-rejection drugs for 3 days and we'll either get home late Christmas Eve or sometime Christmas day.

We're pretty disappointed.  Thankfully, Greg's parents and 2 brothers will be able to come to visit us tomorrow through the 26th so we'll have some good company while at the hospital.  I'm not sure what to expect as far as how the drugs will make him feel or if we'll have much information to share over the next few days, but I'll try to send out updates if there's anything to share.

Please pray that the drugs will be effective and that Greg's body will respond quickly to them.

Thanks so much,
Elise

Good news/ Bad news

Greg's biopsy was early this morning and while we don't have the results yet, we did gain some information from the doctors.
 
Good news first:  Greg's heart is begining to innervate, which means that nerves from his body are growing into his new heart.  This process will take a couple more years to complete but the doctors were excited to see that it's already begun!  It's a really good sign that it started so soon.  When it's complete, his heart rate will be controlled by his nervous system again instead of by hormones (such as adrenaline) and the heart's internal "pacemaker".  The downside to this happening so soon is that the doctors accidentally hit a nerve during the biopsy which made Greg really dizzy (he's awake during the biopsies), prolonged his procedure, and left him feeling pretty awful afterward.

Now for the bad news: Greg's heart pressures were too high during the biopsy.  Essentially this means one of two things: either he's still rejecting, or he's done rejecting but his heart is still recovering from the rejection episode (which would have swollen it, increasing the pressures).  This is consistent with how he's been feeling - short of breath and fatigued.  We'll hopefully get the results of the biopsy tomorrow afternoon and then the doctors will take into consideration the pressures from today when they make a treatment plan.  We're hopeful that he's done rejecting and he won't be admitted to the hospital, but it seems less likely at this point.

Would you please pray with us?  This isn't an emergency situation by any means, but it's looking like Greg there are some more steps to take to get Greg through this rejection episode.  Thanks so much!

Elise