Bad Night--God's Plan?

[Guest guest]

One of the fascinating things about our disease is that every day can

be different and things can change in a flash.

Yesterday was a perfect example. The transplant team wanted one more

MRCP on me prior to the surgery on the 17th. So, I dutifully showed

up at town last night. Everything was going well until they

injected the gadolinium contrast.

Within 10 minutes, I was itching severely, eyes swelled shut, and my

breathing became difficult. I had an anaphylactic reaction to the

contrast. So, what should have been a one hour scan followed by a

nice late dinner with my wife turned into a six hour odyssey in an

urban emergency room on a Friday night...doesn't get any better than that.

I had a similar reaction several years ago, but since then there have

been numerous scans with contrast and without incident. The thinking

is that my immunity is so bad now that I'll react to almost anything.

At least they got the images they needed before I blew up.

Interestingly, we decided to do the MRCP instead of an ERCP this time

because of my history of pancreatitis with ERCPs. So much for trying

to minimize risk.

I'll be on predisone for the next week to prevent any rebound

reaction. It just so happens that predisone is something they've used

to stop the chronic severe ulcers in my mouth and throat, but because

of the side effects, they would only prescribe the pred periodically.

Now, with less than two weeks before the transplant, I'll have my

immunity supressed nicely, and there won't be enough time for my mouth

to flare up again before the surgery. That will take one potential

complication off the table.

Maybe the reaction last night was God's plan. I don't put it past

Him. He works in strange ways. This one is absolute genius.

Tom

PSC 1999

Crohns 2005

Xplant June 17, 2008