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@edb1123

I’m glad to hear you had good results, Lori! I just had blood tests today and wanted to have them check for antibodies, but my Mayo doctor didn’t think it was necessary. ☹️ I don’t understand his reluctance, and I would really like to know so I don’t put myself at risk! I have flown on a plane, eaten in restaurants, been around other vaccinated people, etc. I haven’t been on Tacrolimus for months, so maybe that will help the vaccine’s effectiveness. It would just be nice to know. Thanks for addressing my concerns.

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Replies to "I’m glad to hear you had good results, Lori! I just had blood tests today and..."

@edb1123 We’re a different breed of transplant patients. Solid organ transplants require being on immunosuppressants basically for the rest of their lives. So their immunity remains compromised.

We SCT people eventually get to the point where it’s no longer necessary to be on any meds. And with all our renewed childhood/early adult vaccinations by 2 years we have what’s considered a mature, adult immune system again. But it may not be functioning fully in all situations. We haven’t had that lifetime to acquire all the immunities and immune responses we had prior to our transplants. ((That’s how it was explained to me by my transplant doctor)

So that’s why we will always have to be proactive in avoiding anything which could ‘upset the apple cart’. ☺️ So as long as we’re still cautious even when vaccinated to just be mindful of crowed areas, long exposure time to groups of people, etc...wear a mask, use hand sanitizers and keep space.

For your own curiosity, type a note to your team in the portal and ask to get the antibody test added to your lab orders. Your doctor won’t mind. That’s the really great thing about Mayo doctors, they work with us and we are included in decision making.

My Mayo doctors blew me off when I asked for an antibody test. So I got one from my local doctor. Over 2 months after my second Moderna dose it showed zero antibodies ( which according to Johns Hopkins seems to be more prevalent in older (70) whole organ transplants (Liver and Kidney). The culprit drug seems to be Mycophenolate. I wish the MAYO would be more transparent in their research, as the most current information seems to be coming out of Johns Hopkins.