Maliyah Herrin is back in Primary Children's Medical Center where a doctor is adjusting her immunosuppressant medications to battle an episode of organ rejection.
The formerly conjoined twin, 5, received a kidney from her mother, Erin Herrin, in early April. Last week Friday, she spiked a fever and was hospitalized. A biopsy of the kidney shows rejection, but doctors say that's neither unexpected or a sign that the transplant is failing, according to hospital spokeswoman Bonnie Midget.
"Her graft is still working, so we're certainly not considering this to be a kidney failure," Midget said. "She doesn't need dialysis or anything else to assist kidney function, so that's a good sign."
Maliyah and twin sister Kendra were born conjoined at the abdomen and shared a number of organs, including use of Kendra's kidney. They were separated last August in a marathon surgery that spanned 26 hours and Maliyah was on dialysis until her kidney transplant last month. She and her mom have been recuperating well at home and even managed to go swimming a couple of weeks ago — one of the activities Maliyah was reportedly most looking forward to following the transplant.
Erin took her daughter to the hospital Friday because she was running a 101-degree temperature. Saturday morning, mom later wrote on the Herrintwins.com blog, the little girl had "terrible stomach pains" and her fever climbed. Midget said doctors immediately started her on steroids while awaiting results of the biopsy, which confirmed an episode of organ rejection. Now Maliyah is being given a slightly larger dose of immunosuppressant medication to combat that rejection.
How much is a matter of steps, Midget said. "We start with the lowest level we can and increase the dose as needed."
Organ rejection is not the same as transplant failure. "This is an ongoing process with transplant patients," Midget said. "All of them have episodes of rejection that will have to be treated. This is part of the ongoing treatment of any transplant patient."
While it's "always concerning," she added, it appears the rejection was detected quickly, so "there's no reason to expect this is other than a temporary bump, although not welcome to her family. The doctor still feels the kidney is functioning well."
On their Web site, posted Tuesday night, Erin Herrin asked for "a special prayer for her, especially the little children. There isn't anything in the world closer to the Lord than they are. This has been a very emotional day for me and Jake, but as they started the treatment you could tell right away that she started feeling better."
Midget said that, barring complications, staff would continue to assess Maliyah's kidney function and monitor her medication levels until they're comfortable she's stable and can return home.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com