Ashley's Take - What Next?

7 days until transplant….maybe.

After a very long day, we received a call from Ozzie’s daycare that he was exposed to a positive case yesterday.

What does this mean for Matt? We will find out more from the transplant team tomorrow. What does it mean for the rest of us? Divide and conquer…well sort of. The girls are confined to their room, Matt is in isolation in our room, and Ozzie and I are on the couch. Masks up and time to suck it up for at least 10 days home for the girls and Ozzie. Not exactly the way that we wanted to end today…but c’est la vie.

Matt is considered high risk for COVID….even if he is vaccinated…and boosted. However, the vaccine/booster to help in reducing the risk of severe symptoms. What would this mean for a post transplant Matt?

As soon as the new kidney becomes part of Matt 2.0, his body will try to reject it as it is foreign. To avoid this, he will be placed on immunosuppressants which must be taken daily in order to reduce the chance of rejection. He cannot skip a dose…like CANNOT skip. If he forgets or misses even 1 dose…His body could reject it. To top this off…the kidney has a higher likelihood to be rejected in the first 6 mo post surgery.

Being on the drugs also reduces the body’s ability to fight off viruses, infections, etc. Basically, he and others who are on these drugs become prime candidates for Covid and other viruses.

The morale of this story….get vaccinated, where a mask (vaccinated or not) in public, STAY HOME if you have symptoms.

Ohhhh and the one thing I forgot, if you get down…remember….the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl. Who Dat!