Katelyn's Kidney

06/08/2025

One of my transplant medications is Prednisone. It's not a large dose like when I first had transplant, just 5 MG daily. However, anyone who has been on prednisone knows, it raises your blood sugar. Well when you're pregnant raised blood sugar means gestational diabetes.
For now the team at Maternal Fetal Medicine are just having me check my sugar 4 times a day and watch my eating more closely. It's not fun for sure, especially with pregnancy cravings, but doing what I can for the health of my little girl. Praying we can keep things managed so I don't have to do insulin.

05/02/2025

So why does pregnancy with a transplant mean it's high risk?
I've had a few people not understand why my pregnancy is considered high risk, after all I'm only 30. Well what many people don't know, even women who have had multiple pregnancies is that pregnancy in its self is hard on your kidneys. Your blood volume increases, you hold onto extra fluid, and all that goes through your kidneys. They work harder filtering both your blood and the babies. There are even woman who developed kidney disease during pregnancy and even women who have ended up on dialysis during pregnancy.
So now because my kidney is not mine and always has the risk of something going wrong, I am considered high risk for my pregnancy. All the extra fluid and blood is going through my transplanted kidney and so it's working harder. They even have to keep adjusting my tacrolimus medications because of the increase in blood volume affects the levels.
But thank the Lord so far both me, baby, and kidney are doing great.

04/11/2025

01/15/2025

Well when they told me that it would be hard to fight off colds and infections they weren't lying. So I had a cold that became a sinus infection. Took antibiotics for the duration i was supposed to and all seemed fine for about 3 days. I saw the team Monday morning and was okay, little congested but normally after a cold I stay congested for a bit. But by Monday evening I had a bad sinus headache and just feeling fatigued. I also noticed my labs showed elevated WBCs.
I figured my sinus infection came back and so I called the the doctors and they got me in Tuesday morning. When I went in I mentioned my chest was starting to feel heavy. She listened to my lungs and everything sounded fine. She didn't want to do antibiotics yet since antibiotics can be hard on the digestive system when given back to back.
But she did order a chest x-ray to be sure.
Well the x-ray came back showing some indications that I could be developing pneumonia. So here I am again on antibiotics. Stayed home from work today to try and rest up some and get the antibiotics working.

01/13/2025

Today was the anniversary of me coming home from my Transplant. I remember how careful my husband drove and once I was home and comfortable he went and got me pizza and my favorite ice cream.
Today we went together to my one year appointment. Everything went great. Doctor is happy with how I am doing. They might lower my one medication soon. My local nephrologist will be taking over my care, as I will see the Transplant team less. I don't see them again till July. And I am so thankful I can finally go to monthly blood work instead of every two weeks. God is truly good.

01/09/2025

Here's to 1 year with me and my kidney and all the many years to come. 🥰🥳

Definitely a New York Strip kind of celebration....especially since this time last year I was in pre-op thinking i was going to starve

01/01/2025

So as the New Year begins we flip to a new calendar. This year our calendar is special. Last Spring Wesley and I were approached by the Transplant Team to be included in the yearly calendar for 2025. We were interviewed to get the scope of our kidney story and then in the Summer we had pictures taken by their wonderful photographer Stephen.
Then in the beginning of December we received our calendars in the mail. They even sent extras that we were able to share with a couple of our family members.

01/01/2025

Happy New Year everyone. I'm starting 2025 off with a bacterial sinus infection but um not going to let it dampen my spirits. God is still good and though I'm supper nasally I'm still kickin.

12/29/2024

End of the year update: Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas, I know I did, and I still have Christmas gatherings to go to yet. So now an update on how I am doing as we approach the end of 2024 as well as the one year mark for my transplant.
All in all I am doing great. I have experienced my first cold (was really hoping i could get to the one year mark without catching anything but here we are) Thankful this cold has not been bad. Mostly congestion, which yes is driving me nuts and my nose feels absolutely raw but I know it could be way worse.
The hair i lost is starting to grow back. You can see in the picture I have posted all the small baby hairs that stick up as they grow back. I use gel a good bit now to help hold everything down so I don't look too crazy.
I've gained a total of 20lbs since transplant. I feel like at least 5 of that is in my face alone. I am teaching myself to not take the weight gain to harshly. Especially since I've discovered that no matter what size I am someone always has something to say. Use to be called anorexic now I've had someone tell me I look husky.
I feel pretty amazing though, I would say incredible compared to this time last year. It truly amazes me how much one little organ can do. My levels still fluctuate but the team still says that is normal. They have lowered my anti-rejection meds too so that has also helped me not loose so much hair now.
I will post a follow up when I see the Transplant Team on January 13th. Remember all things are possible through Christ.

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. This year I am very thankful for my Husband and my Donor who together gave me my kidney. I am truly blessed and enjoying the day with my Husband's family.