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diagnosis

My Encounter with Aplastic Anemia

Person's Name: 
Jill Minden

In 2007, when I was 25 years old, I started to get winded going up a flight of stairs. I also began having two hour long nosebleeds, and I knew something was wrong. I had my bloodwork checked and shortly after my doctor told me to go to the hospital right away because my blood counts were extremely low. I had no idea what that meant at the time, and wasn’t overly alarmed.

Bone Marrow Disease(s): 

Alaskan Goes Home for Treatment and a Fresh Start

Person's Name: 
Shauna McMillan

I tell people I'm unique - almost one of a kind. I am 40 years old and have recently been diagnosed with a rare type of MDS having an unusual deletion 12q cytogenetic abnormality, known MDS 12q (-), or MDS 12q minus.  I was diagnosed in February of 2015 at age 38, however my health struggles began several years before that. I had been living in Alaska for nearly twenty-five years. In 2008, I was diagnosed with lymphocytic colitis (also a rare disease for someone of my age).

Bone Marrow Disease(s): 
Content source: 

Katherine Calvo, MD, PhD

Calvo, Katherine
Chief, Hematology Service
National Institutes of Health

Dr. Katherine Calvo is a hematopathologist and researcher in the Hematology Section Clinical Center’s Department of Laboratory Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Calvo graduated from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and completed a fellowship and residency at National Institutes of Health. In collaboration with Dr. Steven Holland in the National Institute for Allergy and Infection Diseases and Dr.

I'm Like You: Briana Donis

Person's Name: 
Briana Donis

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.

Bone Marrow Disease(s): 
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My Life is Making a Difference

Person's Name: 
Denise Beauchemin

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.

Bone Marrow Disease(s): 

Solving a Diagnostic Mystery

Person's Name: 
Emma's Story, Part 1

In January 2016, my 9 year-old daughter Emma turned yellow. After seeing her regular doctor, we were sent straight to the hospital. They found that her liver enzymes were extremely elevated and sent us to a second hospital. After extensive blood panels and scans, they still couldn’t determine the cause of Emma’s liver inflammation, and so the process to find her a new liver began.

Bone Marrow Disease(s): 

An Unusual Route to Diagnosis

Person's Name: 
Jane Massey

Although it sounds strange, I am beginning to believe that breast cancer possibly has saved my life. In October 2015, I was diagnosed with stage 2 lobular carcinoma of the breast. My cancer was found during my routine mammogram. I opted for a bi-lateral mastectomy and then had 33 radiation treatments in early 2016.  I saw my oncologist every month due to my treatment and she ran blood work every time.

Bone Marrow Disease(s): 
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