Rejection Update

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement in light of Greg's recent rejection.  We've been very blessed by all the support we've received!

This has been an interesting week for us.  Greg finished his prednisone treatment yesterday but is still feeling the effects of it.  The high doses gave him a lot of side effects and he's extremely worn out and feels pretty awful.  However, he was able to participate in most of our ministry activities this week which was a blessing!

Yesterday we met with one of the heart transplant program doctors to discuss the results of Greg's 1 year anniversary tests.  For the most part everything looks really good!  There are some changes that Greg will be making to address the tests that had less desirable results, and we learned about some measurements Greg can take daily to help watch for signs of rejection in the future.  All in all, the appointment was really positive and even with Greg's current rejection status the doctors are please with how he's doing.  They reminded us again that everyone experiences rejection at some point and the important things is that we caught it early before damage to his heart could begin.

Greg will have a biopsy next Wednesday to determine if his body is still rejecting his heart.  If everything is back to normal (from the prednisone treatments) they won't make any changes to his medications or biopsy schedule and we'll be able to visit his family for Christmas and attend the Radiate conference that he's teaching at!  If he's still a level 2 or has increased to a level 3 rejection, he will spend 3 days receiving IV treatments and then will have a biopsy a week later to see if anything has improved.  The great news is that the doctors will likely allow him to go to Radiate to teach (maybe just overnight depending on how he's doing) even if he's still rejecting since it's only an hour away and so close to Johns Hopkins (which has a transplant center)!  This is a huge answer to prayer!!

On Saturday I will be traveling to see my grandma and Greg's dad (and possibly one of his brothers) will be coming to see Greg.  I'll come back on Tuesday in time to get some sleep and go with Greg to his biopsy Monday morning.  All of the details have worked out really well and it is so clear to me that God is directing everything related to this situation and answering many of our prayers.

I'll let you know when we find out the results of Greg's next biopsy.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Love,
Elise