Hi @caregiverx2, I know this feels a step back in your husband’s recovery, but it’s not! He’s still very early in the transplant journey and gvhd is not unexpected. Even if we have a very close match with our donors, there can still be instances of gvhd. In fact, it’s important to have some level of recognition from our newly implanted cells that they are in control.
In the early months post transplant, the new cells are still getting used to the body where they’ve taken up lodging. They are basically on high alert in this new neighborhood. It can take many months, sometimes years for the cells to recognize and adapt to the many proteins it finds roaming about. It takes time for them to realize they are not all threats that need to be attacked. Until that happens there can be little flare-ups of gvhd, such as the skin rash.
Those little flares get tamped down with a quick snuff of steroids. Or, in the case of your husband, the tacro level is also ramped up to a safe, sustaining level again. This suppresses the over-eager cells until they can temper their assertiveness. 😅 A time out! If it’s any consolation, I was actually on Tacro for 2.5 years. I had a perfect match but “the force was strong with this one” and needed extra time for my new immune system and my body to learn to play well together!
No two of us are alike so we all have our own personal journey along the BMT trail. But we share similarities so it’s good that you brought this out in the forum to talk about.
How’s your husband been feeling otherwise? Is he gaining weight, strength, stamina?
He is doing okay. His stamina and strength are slowing improving but he is having a hard time maintaining or gaining weight. The steroids also send his blood sugar sky high so he exercises/walks to try to get it down. It is a bad news/good news situation, but it still takes a toll on him.