This allowed Tom to be upright for the entire treatment while providing the ability to raise his feet to help prevent or
treat hypotension.
One month later, Tom again presented to the emergency
department with dysphagia and increasing weakness.
He was treated as an inpatient for three treatments
using the same orders and treatment plan as his previous
admission. He reported that his symptoms were not as
severe, but he was having some gastrointestinal symptoms
as a side effect of the pyridostigmine bromide. Tom
received three TPE treatments as an inpatient before
being discharged to receive the remaining two treatments
as an outpatient. He was given mycophenolate (Cellcept®)
to help slow the production of autoantibodies. Tom
received two outpatient TPE treatments using the same
orders, which were also well tolerated. During his treatments,
Tom was asked to identify early symptoms of
myasthenic crisis and was educated on the option of contacting
his neurologist with worsening symptoms, which
included dysphagia and difficulty enunciating words. This
allowed for scheduling of outpatient TPE treatments
rather than presenting to the emergency department and
requiring hospital admission.
Approximately one month after Tom completed his
second series of TPE treatments, he again became weak
and experienced dysphagia. He contacted his neurologist,
and outpatient treatments were scheduled. Tom tolerated
these treatments well, but expressed frustration with being
dependent upon both hemodialysis and TPE. Permanent
dialysis access had been recommended. Tom was most
interested in peritoneal dialysis, but his oncologist was
concerned that he would have a higher risk for infection
as a result of immunosuppression from his cancer diagnosis
and mycophenolate regimen. Renal replacement therapy
option education was provided during each TPE
treatment. Following his final treatment of this cycle, a
scan was performed for cancer surveillance. The scan was
negative, and the oncologist declared Tom cancer-free.
Six months after Tom completed his final TPE treatment,
he was admitted to the hospital for peritoneal dialysis
catheter placement. He was doing well on pyrostigmine
bromide and mycophenolate, and had not required
any further TPE treatments. Tom was looking forward to
performing his own dialysis treatments at home and visiting
grandchildren who lived out of state.