Beginning Dialysis

This morning a deep line was placed in Mark's neck so that hemodialysis can begin. The procedure to place the line was uncomfortable for Mark. They numbed the area with a topical anesthetic, but did not want to give him any type of sedation due to his past history with anesthesia. The deep line looks a little different than the one he had last week. This one is "tunneled" so that there is less chance of infection and so that it can be in place longer. Mark started dialysis this afternoon. At this point, the Transplant Team is planning on letting Mark receive dialysis today, tomorrow, and Thursday. They will continue to monitor Mark's blood/creatinine levels and will decide after Thursday if he will need to continue with dialysis. If the Transplant Team decides that he will need to stay on dialysis for an extended period of time, they will place an access port in his body. For hemodialysis, the physicians connect an artery and vein in the forearm. For peritoneal dialysis, a catheter is placed in the abdomen. Mark's preference is peritoneal dialysis. Placing the catheter for peritoneal dialysis requires surgery. As you might expect, we're praying that the dialysis Mark receives this week will help Justin's kidney to start working so that Mark can avoid another surgery!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Transplant Team sent a sample from the kidney biopsy to a Pathologist in California. The Transplant Team has consulted with several other transplant surgeons in other hospitals. They are thinking that Mark may have antiendothelial antibodies that are triggering his rejection to transplanted kidneys. This is a very rare condition that makes transplantation difficult. The Team is still awaiting the results. I will post the results as soon as we know more.

Please pray for God's peace for our family. Please pray specifically for both of our mothers-Rhonda and Tish- as this situation has been extremely difficult for both of them.