It’s been a while since I’ve posted. As they say, no news is good news.
I’ve been taking the immunosuppressing drug Tacrolimus (“Tacro”) for the past seven years. Tacro is often given to stem cell transplant patients to tamp down graft versus host disease (GvHD). GvHD is a condition in which the newly transplanted immune system has trouble telling friend from foe and attacks the patient’s organs.
The problem with being immunosuppressed is that you are susceptible to bacterial, viral, and fungal infections that would not threaten a person with a normal immune system. For that reason, I’ve been taking Valacyclovir, Bactrim, and Posaconazole on a daily basis to fight off infections. Despite those medications, I still suffer from frequent sinus infections and was diagnosed today with walking pneumonia probably viral or fungal in origin.
Now that I have made it seven years without major GvHD symptoms, Dr. C has agreed to attempt to taper me off from Tacro over the next four weeks. When we last tried to taper me off from Tacro in 2016, my liver enzymes spiked showing that my immune system was attacking my liver. I will need to get a CBC and chem panel every two weeks to make sure my liver is stable. I’ll keep you fellow transplant patients updated with my progress. Onward and upward folks.
