rejection 2 years after transplant

Hello all, Congratulations Brent. I haven't been on awhile cause we have been pretty depressed. My husband had a liver transplant march 2007 and now he is rejecting the liver. He had a biopsy  and it shows the hepatitis c is attacking his new liver. Mikesimon if you are here I'd like to ask you a question or anybody that might know. After 2 years is it common for rejection to happen. The doctor says it can happen anytime but most likely closer to the time of transplant. Also to remind you that my husband was on interferon and ribavarin for 18 months and did not come under 1 million viral load. I know Mike you said the first treatment you had didn't work and the second one did. We have an appointment in March to discuss what to do about the Hepatitis c. The doctor is hesitant to put him back on the shots for fear of autoimmune hepatits. There is nothing else he can go on is there? They are talking about a second transplant if he becomes very sick. He doesn't want to go through this whole thing again for what. I am hoping they put him on the shots and it will clear but I think I am just trying to be optimistic about the situation. Well Mike or Brent or anyone that has any ideas would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks , Ruth

[lalapple]

Dear Ruth, i'm so sorry to hear this.  hope everything gets better for you and your husband.  best of luck.

[Ruth590]

Thank you for replying, it makes me feel as though someone is caring. Ruth

[sunshine585]

I wish I had something helpful to say, but I don't. I hope that he is able to take tx again, and this time have success. I hope that everything will be ok. I hope you are able to have the strength to get through these tough days ahead. My thoughts go out to you.

[puppiepals]

JUST GIVE IT TO GOD!!  I hope all goes well for ya..

[jdwithhcv]

Sometimes the forum is a bit slow on weekends.  I'm sure someone will have a response for you eventually.  Meanwhile, I'm so sorry to hear that your husband is so ill.  I will keep a good thought for you both.

jd

also, try posting on the transplant forum (if you haven't already) and your post will not get buried so quickly.

[jmjm530]

I'm unclear on the sequencing, for example: Did he treat pre-transplant. Did he treat during the transplant. Did the rejection happen during treatment or after it was stopped? Have you gotten a second opinon?

[IAmTheWalrus]

I am sorry to hear about your husband's possible rejection. Is this rejection as in his imune system rejecting the organ, or is it just the HCV attacking the new liver (reinfection)?  I would ask the same questions as jmjm530: Did his treatment fail pre-transplant or did he treat post-transplant? Mike has been good enough to post some information showing that the response to treatment after TP can be altered, i.e. those with non response prior to TP can become responders. Of course, the reverse can be true also.

Also, I have to ask why he treated for 18 months if his VL never got below 1,000,000?  That is an exceedingly long time to treat without an adequate VL response. What drugs did he treat with and when?

Perhaps TX can buy some time and avoid a second TP  until a better treatment is available? I haven't been through this particular trial yet, so I don't know exactly what to say. Maybe answers to some of the questions would get some things pointed in a useful direction.

Meantime, you both have my sympathy and best wishes. Let me know if I can help.

Brent

[mikesimon]

I want to say that I messaged Ruth about this situation. I suspect that my absence from this thread may appear as though I am not interested or concerned. I assure you that I am.
Mike