Plasmaphoresis

In March of 2007 I was at my monthly oncologist appt for routine labs. I had previously had creatinine levels in the 0.8-1.0 range. Looking back in my records my creatinine on January 2, 2007 was 0.9. January 30th it was 1.0. February 27th it was 1.5. March 30th it jumped to 4.0. At this last level my doctor advised me he was going to admit me to the hospital.

At this time I had been on Biaxin, Revlimid and Dexamethasone for three months with not a very dramatic response. I had also received Zometa recently and had been on Ibuprofen. While in the hospital I was diagnosed with Acute Renal Failure (ARF). I was put on i.v. fluids and my chemotherapy was changed to Velcade. I also had a kidney biopsy performed which revealed I had “myeloma kidney”. My doctors call was to have me receive plasmapheresis treatments.

I first had to have a catheter inserted near my collar bone. The catheter had two lumens. One took the protein out and the other replaced it with albumin (I think Beth, I’m not 100% sure). I had five treatments, two as a hospital patient and the other three as an out-patient. It was an amazing experience. I was connected to this fairly large machine that had buttons, dials and lights along with the tubes that were connected to my catheter. The process took between 60-90 minutes. They can adjust the speed of the machine and it was necessary to do this a little at a time.

The process was painless. I do remember I was chilly during the transfer. They warmed the albumin before it was introduced to my system. They did tell me I might experience tingly sensations around my mouth but I never did.

During the process you could read, watch tv, listen to tapes or sleep. The nurse was there with me during the total procedure.

Each day I had treatment they took my labs and my creatinine continued to improve. In September I did a SCT and my creatinine is now at 1.9.