Pain Managment and AA

[Laurie]

I am new here but have been posting about my Dad's diagnosis and treatment with AA. Now I have another question but didn't want to continue with the original thread.

Currently, my Dad is in the hospital being treated for a kidney infection and yeast infection. He is receiving platelets every other day and still receives the horse serum along with a host of other meds. My question is that my Dad is complaining of pain, so much pain infact that has extreme difficulty in moving around for comfort in the hospital bed. His care staff is giving him Loratab, etc. for his pain and discomfort. But what I want to know is this type of pain normal for AA patients and if so how long does it last? What can we do to help my Dad get comfortable? He is working with a hospital physical therapist to help with his aching joints but that just started yesterday. I hate seeing him like this...well at hearing that he is like this. (I don't get to see him, live to faraway).

Thanks for your help.

Laurie
Roy's Health Journal
Ashley's Health Journal

[skoopman]

Hi Laurie,

Anytime you are treated with an animal protein you have the potential for serum sickness since foreign substances are being introduced into the system. My daughter had rabbit ATG and delevloped serum sickness about 2 weeks after ATG. The typical treatment consists of prednisone and pain meds. My daughter was in so much pain she couldnt walk to the bathroom. The worst day was probably her 5th birthday when she slept all but 30 minutes of the day away to escape from the pain. It did go away completely.

Is your dad on any steroids? When was his ATG?

Good luck,
Suzanne
mom to Michelle, age 6, SAA 6-1-05, BMT 11-11-05

[Wendy Beltrami]

HI Laurie,
When you said that your dad is still receiving horse serum, do you mean that he is still getting ATG every day? I know there are different protocols, but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting ATG for longer than 10 days.

Like Michelle said, the serum sickness after ATG can be really painful. My son said that even the joints in his toes hurt. The good news is that it does go away completely and prednisone helps that process.

Wendy/mom to Grant
ATG x 2