Living with Sarcoidosis

My wife had been suffering for 3 o4 4 years with a dry, hacking cough and was hospitalized several times. In 1968, she was admitted in to the hospital and the doctors thought she had TB and put her in an isolation ward and took a series of test. All of them came back negative.

One day a doctor came into her room, dressed in all his isollation clothes carrying a large medical book. He sat on the edge of he bed, opened the book and said he thought she might have sacoidosis [sarcoidosis] and scheduled a Kveim-Siltbach test. The injection of sarcoid poroved positive and she was put on prednisone (195 mg per day) for several months. In time the sarcoid went dormant and her prednisone was decreased. The damage from the prednisone caused her to get catacts ands she had them removed.

Years passed and she was in and out of hospitals with her damaged lungs (different infections) until she received a lung transplant in 1995. She was out of the hospital in 4 days and after a while she was back to her old self…..She felt wonderful! Because of the medicine she was on she developed diabetes and was on dyalisis [dialysis] for 4 years until she received a kidney transplant in 2002. Every thing was great and she was released from the hospital in 3 days. Again, she felt great and we went on with our lives. In 2007 she developed pseudomonsis and was in and out of the hospital for 4 months. The doctor could not control the infections and she passed away on March 29, 2008.

I can only thank God for giving me 13 extra years with my wonderful wife. Would we have another transplant if it would have saved her life? You bet!! I have the greatest respect and gratitude for everyone concerned for giving my wife a better way of life.

I trust this information is beneficial to you.