Before COVID-19, most kidney- and heart-transplant recipients got their weekly or monthly blood tests at the hospital or a local blood-draw center. When COVID-19 touched down, however, hospitals became places where exposure to the coronavirus was higher.
Patients who are on immunosuppression—such as transplant recipients—are likely to be at a higher risk of severe infection and associated complications of COVID-19.1 Therefore, it is critical that transplant recipients have routine access to their transplant-lab testing in environments that limit their exposure to the coronavirus.
How do you solve such a dilemma?
Since March 2020, over 5,000 transplant recipients have turned to RemoTraC.
Learn more about RemoTraC, here.
COVID-19 being what it is, Valen Keefer’s speech at the grand opening of CareDx’s newly expanded CLIA lab in Brisbane, California was a unique virtual event.
Valen was there as a virtual robot, sharing her inspiring story and leading the countdown for the ribbon cutting.
“Being a transplant recipient is a lifelong journey and having the opportunity to celebrate this new lab is so amazing,” said “Robot” Valen.
Valen’s journey as a multi-organ transplant recipient has been a compelling one—to say the very least.
She has lived through polycystic kidney disease (PKD), dialysis, lengthy hospital stays, a kidney transplant, and a liver transplant. She is a survivor through and through, with a prodigious passion for helping the transplant community.
Read Valen’s full story, here.
Part of the function of the kidney is to help you regulate blood pressure.
High blood pressure—known as hypertension—can be common both before and after a kidney or heart transplant.
Between 50 and 80% of adults—and 47 to 82% of kids—living with a transplanted kidney have high blood-pressure levels.1 Culprits that stimulate elevations in blood-pressure level include:
Read the full article, here.
We have been living in a COVID-19 world for close to a year now, and the pandemic has changed society’s routines and forced it to delay—or go without—many things.
As a transplant recipient, however, you know that you cannot delay—or go without—certain things, especially those related to your care.
Routine check-ups with your transplant team can help detect transplant complications.
Labs are also incredibly important for transplant recipients like yourself because they asses the ongoing health of your transplanted kidney or heart. If you are a kidney-transplant recipient, important regular labs that you may need include:
If you are a heart-transplant recipient, important regular labs that you may need include:
Read the full article, here.
Recipe By: Chef Chloe Gould
“The passage of the Immuno Bill is not just a win for the patient community …” says Alexandra Harrison-Flaxman “… it’s a win because of the patient community.”
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed S. 3353 – Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplants Patients Act of 2020 (The Immuno Bill).
Earlier, on December 8, 2020, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5534, which set up the Senate vote.
The bi-partisan passage of the Immuno Bill now awaits the President’s signature.
Getting the bill passed has been Alexandra’s (“Alex’s”) passion for several years now and she says she cried when watching both the House and Senate pass the legislation.
“I was thinking, ‘This is crazy,’ I’ve just been a part of enacting actual change for kidney-transplant recipients,” says Alex, 34.
Read Alexandra’s full story, here.
Every buzzword has its beginning.
In early 2020, few had heard of “Social Distancing.” By March, however, “Social Distancing” had become part of the universal lexicon.
In the transplant community, it’s just a matter of time until “Liquid Biopsy” becomes the latest buzzword.
The liquid biopsy uses fragments from the blood to give information that is usually found from taking a solid biopsy. The science has been widely used in cancer diagnosis and management, replacing invasive sampling with a non-invasive blood test.
As cells undergo changes, injury, or natural death, their DNA fragments are released into the blood stream. These fragments are known as cell-free DNA (cfDNA),1 and they provide a continuous stream of information. In the case of cancer cells, a liquid biopsy is detecting the cfDNA coming from the tumor.
Read the full article, here.
Having an organ transplant can feel like a new lease on life!
You find that you can suddenly do more of the things that you enjoy. However, new recipients are sometimes overwhelmed with all the requirements of post-transplant living.
Protecting your new gift requires some discipline and consistency. As a new transplant recipient, you become keenly aware of things like:
To maintain the health of your transplanted organ, it is important that you take your immunosuppressant (anti-rejection) medications, but also at the same times each day.
Anti-rejection medications help to tame your body’s ability to attack and potentially damage your transplanted organ. To accomplish this, however, anti-rejection medications need to be taken:
Read the full article, here.
Recipe By: Chef Chloe Gould
https://caredx.com/patients-and-caregivers/our-transplant-journeys__trashed/butternut-squash-hash/