BK Virus: 8.16

The weekend started last Friday with a restful day in the hospital dozing after the biopsy. Travis drove up from his new home in Boerne, Texas (in the hill country just north of San Antonio) to get another carload of stuff, so it was a very pleasant weekend. Too much to eat, too much to drink.

After the trauma of the immuno-globulin reaction, the big jump in creatinine and all the anxiety that I experienced leading up to the biopsy, it was somehow relaxing to hear that the inflammation was being caused by the BKV and that my body was not rejecting the kidney. I had almost convinced myself that I would be back on dialysis in a matter of days. I'm thinking now that while I might wind up back on dialysis eventually, it won't be for a while and it won't be without a fight.

And with that positive frame of mind I walked into the clinic Monday afternoon for labs and a visit with the doctors.

And for a change the news was good.

Creatinine was down significantly, from 5.4 to 4.1. Everyone breathed a big sigh of relief. Of course what caused the improvement in kidney function is not necessarily clear. It could just be that the kidney is recovering from the shock of the reaction to the IVIG. It could be that the increased dosage of prednisone over the weekend reduced the inflammation.

The number of copies of the virus was 54,500 vs 45,000 a couple of weeks ago. It sounds like a significant difference until I remember that the initial count in June was 497,000. So the virus is holding steady, creatinine is coming down, time to go back on the attack.

I'll go in for another round of labs at the end of the week and then back into the hospital next Tuesday for another infusion of Cidofovir. And then back for a another visit to the clinic the following day.

And no doubt do it all over again!

(The image shows the cell structure of a rejected renal transplant.)