Friday, May 29, 2015

Results of Biopsy

I got a call from the Hepatologist and he said no signs of graft vs host.  He said there is significant iron overload and said that my liver issues are most likely related to the iron.  He did say that people that have been through stem cell transplants can have this same issue without any obvious cause, however, he believes this is an iron issue.  My iron is at 2000 according to the biopsy.  I also have elevated portal pressure but I knew that already.  So the Hep. doctor said the transplant doctor will handle this because it is more of a blood issue. 

So the plan now is chelation to get the iron down.  The problem is that Exjade, my chelation drug, causes intestinal issues for me, making it hard to gain/maintain weight.  We are going to look at switching to a similar drug that is injected into your bloodstream via a pump, thereby eliminating the digestive issues.  The Doctor in Chicago thought phlebotomy (blood dumping) would be an option but the doctor in Green Bay does not want to risk anemia if the blood counts don't come back up.  I also noticed that when I'm taking exjade daily, my blood counts start to drop.  I don't know if that will be the same issue with the other drug and pump setup.

God Bless
Scott

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