Month 16, part B
The Prednisone has continued to have a profound effect on my edema (fluid retention) problems. I have not only become less of a balloon, my muscles also don’t hurt all the time anymore. At the clinic yesterday, my medical team seemed amazed that I had lost 12 pounds (of fluids, of course) since my visit last week (I’ve probably lost more than 20 pounds in the last 2 or 3 weeks). They could also see that my limbs were much less swollen. My blood counts are still good (the WBC is elevated due to the Prednisone).
...... last week current normal
..... ---------- ------- ---------
WBC.. 8.2 ...... 10.8 .... 4 – 11
Hgb.. 10.5 ..... 10.0 ... 14 – 18
Plt.. 321 ...... 343 ... 150 – 400
As a corticosteroid, Prednisone is a very effective anti-inflammatory, and I believe this is the primary reason that I have seen such a rapid and profound effect on my swelling. However, Prednisone is also an effective (read powerful) immune suppressant that we hope is also fighting back the GvHD that is presumably attacking my skin and connective tissue, causing the edema in the first place. My doctor says it is proven to attack T-cells that are a central part of the immune system response to foreign entities (in this case, me). We’ll see how things go from here. The dosage of Prednisone has been scaled back from 60 to 40 mg/day. Relatively high dosages like this have to be reduced because of the ancillary damages it can cause the body, but apparently, it must be reduced gradually or other bad things happen.
I also had a CT scan of my chest yesterday to see if there is something there to cause my ongoing low pulse oximetry and shortness of breath. I probably won’t get the results of that until next week.
The bottom line is that I feel MUCH better than I have in probably 2 months due to the edema relief. Feeling better physically makes it much easier to have a more positive outlook as well. I do realize that since I have some chronic GvHD going on, I will likely be immune suppressed for some time, but I’m still hopeful about getting past all of this sometime (including getting my taste back).
Love,
Justin
...... last week current normal
..... ---------- ------- ---------
WBC.. 8.2 ...... 10.8 .... 4 – 11
Hgb.. 10.5 ..... 10.0 ... 14 – 18
Plt.. 321 ...... 343 ... 150 – 400
As a corticosteroid, Prednisone is a very effective anti-inflammatory, and I believe this is the primary reason that I have seen such a rapid and profound effect on my swelling. However, Prednisone is also an effective (read powerful) immune suppressant that we hope is also fighting back the GvHD that is presumably attacking my skin and connective tissue, causing the edema in the first place. My doctor says it is proven to attack T-cells that are a central part of the immune system response to foreign entities (in this case, me). We’ll see how things go from here. The dosage of Prednisone has been scaled back from 60 to 40 mg/day. Relatively high dosages like this have to be reduced because of the ancillary damages it can cause the body, but apparently, it must be reduced gradually or other bad things happen.
I also had a CT scan of my chest yesterday to see if there is something there to cause my ongoing low pulse oximetry and shortness of breath. I probably won’t get the results of that until next week.
The bottom line is that I feel MUCH better than I have in probably 2 months due to the edema relief. Feeling better physically makes it much easier to have a more positive outlook as well. I do realize that since I have some chronic GvHD going on, I will likely be immune suppressed for some time, but I’m still hopeful about getting past all of this sometime (including getting my taste back).
Love,
Justin
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