BK Virus: Murky Waters

Another day, another set of labs. Some good news! The creatinine is down a bit: 5.3 from 5.6. Not much, but it's better! Now the question is, "Why?"

Of course the answer is tied to the cause of the increase and we are faced with the same multiple choices as yesterday:  1) reduction in BK Virus, 2) recovery from impact of Cidofovir or 3) recovery from the massive reaction to the immunoglobulin.

And the favorite choice is 3) recovery from the massive reaction to the immunoglobulin. The action plan is to delay the biopsy a day and run another set of labs tomorrow. IF the creatinine falls below 5 the assumption will be that the kidney is recovering from the infusion and we will go into a wait and see mode. If the change is minimal, we'll go ahead with the biopsy.

In addition more meds are being removed from the cocktail. Myfortic was removed in favor of Leflunomide which is mainly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. It is an immuno-suppressant which is also anti-inflammatory and will help the kidney recover. Two blood pressure drugs were removed and the one remaining was increased. I should start back on a round of Procrit treatment to bring my anemia under control. That's good news. I need more meat and protein to feed the Procrit (aka Epoegen, Epo).

So it's off to work. My other direction was to hydate like crazy to keep fluid flowing through the kidney. But it's good general advice on these August scorchers.

HYDRATE OR DIE!!!!