Treatments start Monday!

We've made it to Houston! We got in Sunday evening, had my first appointment wednesday and I finally unpacked everything and got organized yesterday. I admit I waited to unpack officially until after the appointment because I was so nervous something would happen.

The appointment went amazing. I'm so happy with the doctors here. The specialist and the OB are in the same office so all my appointments are in the same spot, and everyone knows exactly what's happening. I got to sit down with Dr. Moise, his wife Karen who is the clinical coordinator, and another doctor who is working with Dr. Moise on my case to discuss everything they plan to do and outcomes we hope to see. They already have me lined up to start treatments on Monday!

So as promised I'm going to explain what Plasmapheresis and IVIG are. I'll start receiving the plasmapheresis treatment on Monday morning. This is used to remove antibodies from the bloodstream. The antibodies are located in the plasma of the blood so my blood will be taken out through an IV and the plasma removed and put back in with fresh (antibody free) plasma. This procedure takes a few hours. It also does not prevent my body from just creating new antibodies. Which is where IVIG comes in!

So while the plasmapheresis is removing the "bad antibodies" it's also removing my good ones. IVIG is a transfusion of the good antibodies. These are taken from several thousand donors and is screened for disease. So the idea behind it is that all these good antibodies signals my body that it has plenty of antibodies and it doesn't need to create those bad ones right now! Not to mention keeping me from totally getting sick just by coming in contact with a little germ! This treatment takes 6 hours.

SO. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will be receiving the Plasmapheresis. It is an outpatient procedure so I won't have to stay overnight unless I'm having some sort of reaction to the treatment. Friday however I will receive the IVIG immediately after the plasmapheresis and receive another IVIG Saturday. So I will stay overnight Friday night.

After that I will not need to receive anymore plasmapheresis treatments! But I will continue to receive the IVIG transfusions once a week until about 20-24 weeks. And the cool part about that? They are lining up home treatment for those! So once a week someone will come to the house to give me the treatments and I won't have to be at the hospital for hours :) I'm especially excited about that!

There are risks for infection but they are not common. The most common side effects they have seen for these treatments have been with the IVIG and those have been a slight rash on the hands that goes away, and severe headaches.

I am so thankful God has gotten us this far to be able to work with this team of doctors and that my family is able to be here to help us get through it all! Jeremy can focus on his classes knowing I'm being taken care of in the best way possible and that Caden is able to still be with me and taken care of by my family while I'm at my many appointments! Not to mention the awesome bonding time with family we don't get to see often!

Even through my fears and anxiety God continues to take care of us in major ways. I'm still practicing giving up my fears. I'm doing all I can do and just keep praying. Thank you so much for continuing to pray with us and for us. Will be keeping yall updated!



-Jessi