Please make a donation to the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation this holiday season.
Tyler Andrews has been passionate about running for most of his life. The 26-year-old turned it into his profession and has competed all over the world.
Vincent Rusak of New Kensington, PA, traveled extensively during his 26-year career as an expert electronic service technician. For 15 of those years, he was also a regular blood donor in his community.
His father’s quadruple bypass surgery, as well as a deep compassion for his fellow man, were Vince's motivation for contributing to his local blood banks every six to nine months. Little did he know that this selfless habit would someday save his life.
On April 15, 2007, my husband Jeff, age 39, tucked our two and three year old boys into bed. He suddenly yelled down to me in a concerned voice, “Honey, my vision is slightly distorted, and it must be a migraine. I’m going to lay down for a bit.”
Homecoming queen and top student Briana Donis always wanted to go to the University of Texas at Austin.
“I was having a pretty awesome year. I was very well known at school and I had a boyfriend.” She had just been accepted at the school of her choice when she noticed how really tired she was all the time. And then the bleeding started.
Beginning September 2012, I just wasn’t feeling quite right. I was increasingly fatigued and there were some perplexing bleeding incidents, as well. After many months I experienced partial vision – just little areas of vision that were blank. Internal bleeding in the eyes was causing this, and my eye doctor knew it was serious and even thought it could be leukemia.
My mom is a pharmacist and I currently attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, I was shocked and sad but I wasn’t scared.
My husband David’s journey with MDS began in April 2014, when it was discovered almost by chance while we were on vacation. David was bitten by a brown recluse spider and had a very severe reaction to it. He had to be hospitalized, which is when he got his first blood test in years. The doctor noted that his blood counts were low and, while he didn’t rule out that the spider bite might have affected the counts, there was a possibility of myelodysplasia.
Bone marrow failure includes other diseases and conditions that are related to aplastic anemia, MDS and PNH. AAMDSIF extends its programs, services and support to patients and families suffering from these rare diseases as well.