10/01/2026
Here's a pretty big secret I've been keeping 🥹
Tomorrow marks a major new chapter in my journey with chronic illness: I am starting my very first at home IVIG immunoglobulin (IgG) infusions. 🥹
Living with adrenal insufficiency, and the requirement of subQ steroid injections throughout the day, every day, means my body already fights an uphill battle every single day. My doctors and I uncovered another critical piece to my puzzle. My pneumococcal titers came back incredibly low, confirming that I am severely immunocompromised.
Truth is, i’ve actually known about this and have said NO to infusions for the last two years.
As someone who personally is anti-vaccine 🚫💉, it was a really hard pill to swallow knowing that IgG therapy is made from the pooled plasma of "healthy" donors who may very well have been vaccinated themselves. Supposedly the blood is cleaned and filtered several times and the "cleanest" that blood could possibly be, but there is still that chance... 🥹
It took a lot of time, reflection, and weighing my options to process that, and a lot of debilitating FATIGUE... 24/7‼️
Luckily I was able to decline the Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccines (this alone took a lot of back and forth with my doctor explaining my why's and him finally respecting them) for him to agree to complete prior authorizations for me, to fight to not have to have the vaccines (typically required for infusions apparently), and, insurance finally approved for me to have the infusions, without the vaccines prior. 🙌🏻 Pretty sad we have to fight insurance to begin with, for our health needs 🥹
But between my autoimmune struggles and my body’s inability to protect itself from common infections, I had to look at the bigger picture. These IgG infusions aren’t just a new treatment anymore—they are my new shield, every 2-4 weeks, for life. They will give my immune system the antibodies it simply cannot make on its own.
I’m feeling a mix of everything right now to be perfectly honest— I'm scared, I'm alone in this process, I'm nervous about the common side effects I hear about, but mostly a deep sense of hope, for my future, what's left of it 🙏🏻✨
Chronic life and chronic illnesses are a constant cycle of self-advocating, processing, and making the hardest choices for our own survival.
Tomorrow, I take a big step toward protecting my health and reclaiming some strength, I hope...
Would you mind keeping me in your thoughts and in your prayers here on out? I'd be ever so grateful for healing light and energy sent to me in addition?
💛 xo, Kerstin
