I was just past my 19th birthday when my family and I realized that something was severely wrong with my health. Throughout high school I was always fatigued, and bruised very easily. I also experienced what I now know as petechiae petechiae: (puh-TEE-kee-ie) Small, flat red or purplish spots on the skin, caused by bleeding. It is often a symptom of a low platelet count. – little red dots all over my body caused by bleeding into the skin due to low platelet platelet: The smallest type of blood cell. Platelets help the blood to clot and stop bleeding. Also called a thrombocyte. counts. After I got to know what the symptoms of aplastic anemia aplastic anemia: (ay-PLASS-tik uh-NEE_mee-uh) A rare and serious condition in which the bone marrow fails to make enough blood cells - red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The term aplastic is a Greek word meaning not to form. Anemia is a condition that happens when red blood cell count is low. Most… were, I later realized that I had at least some degree of the deficiency for about two years before I was diagnosed in 2008.
As happens with many other patients, we first knew something wasn’t right when blood work from a routine physical showed significantly low blood cell counts. The results were severe enough for my doctors’ office to call to tell me to get to a hospital emergency room for a blood transfusion blood transfusion: A procedure in which whole blood or one of its components is given to a person through an intravenous (IV) line into the bloodstream. A red blood cell transfusion or a platelet transfuson can help some patients with low blood counts. right away. After my first blood transfusion, I saw a hematologist hematologist: (hee-muh-TOL-uh-jist) A doctor who specializes in treating blood diseases and disorders of blood producing organs. at Prince William County Hospital in Northern Virginia, and immediately had my first bone marrow biopsy bone marrow biopsy: A medical procedure to remove a small piece of solid bone marrow using a needle that goes into the marrow of the hip bone. The solid bone marrow is examined for cell abnormalities, the number of different cells and checked for scarring of the bone marrow. .
After learning my diagnosis, I began to research aplastic anemia to get a better understanding of the disease. This is when I came across the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation. I signed up to receive specific and general information and email newsletters. It was nice to be able to learn things at home that I could take to clarify with my doctors. Although I no longer live with aplastic anemia, I still receive the AAMDSIF newsletters and enjoy reading stories from other aplastic anemia survivors and wanted to contribute my own story.
The hematology team at PWC Hospital wasn’t sure what to make of my biopsy results. In March of 2008, I was referred to the Oncology Center at Georgetown University, in Washington D.C. where I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. I was treated with high does of cyclosporine cyclosporine: Cyclosporine is used along with antithymocyte globulin (ATG), another immunosuppressant, for treating aplastic anemia and some other forms of bone marrow failure. and multiple transfusions to help maintain steady blood cell counts, and later received two separate doses of anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) over a period of two years. The ATG treatments helped maintain somewhat normal blood cell counts for about six months, but they declined again. At this point, Georgetown University had exhausted all options for my condition and referred me to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland in early 2010.
I was set up with a team at NIH, and began a regimen of medication that again included cyclosporine. After many tests, it was decided that I was a good candidate for a stem cell transplant. My sister was tested and found to be a fully matched donor. After about a year of preparation, I received my new stem cells stem cells: Cells in the body that develop into other cells. There are two main sources of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells come from human embryos and are used in medical research. Adult stem cells in the body repair and maintain the organ or tissue in which they are found. Blood-forming (hemapoietic) stem… on June 8, 2011, almost 5 years ago.
After an inpatient stay of three weeks, I was discharged but had to live nearby in Maryland for about two months. I was evaluated every day for the first few months and once my follow-up appointments changed to once weekly, I was able to move back home to Nokesville, Virginia, about an hour and a half from NIH. Around one year after receiving my stem cell transplant, we were notified that my sister’s stem cells had successfully engrafted -- in layman’s terms, I was cured of aplastic anemia!
I was lucky to experience only minor side effects from the transplant during my recovery period. Besides the expected severe fatigue, I had one very minor case of graft vs. host disease of the skin that was easily cured with high doses of prednisone prednisone: Prednisone a man-made version of a hormone produced naturally by the adrenal gland that can help reduce inflammation and stop allergic responses. It is prescribed when the body is not producing enough of this chemical on its own. How does it work? For PNH, it may be used to decrease… , and I also had dry eyes, which later went away. The only other side effects that I experienced were caused by the multiple medications that I was required to take to help the engraftment engraftment: Refers to how well a graft (donor cells) is accepted by the host (the patient) after a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. Several factors contribute to better engraftment - physical condition of the patient, how severe the disease is, type of donor available, age of patient. Successful… of the stem cells.
In April of 2014, I started my current job with One Degree Capital. Recently, in a morning meeting, our CEO Rodney Loges, asked for input from the team on worthy causes and charities that our company might direct charitable contributions. I immediately spoke up and suggested the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation. I explained that the foundation really helped my family and I through a tough a critical time in our lives. Because of this, I am very pleased and thankful that One Degree Capital has made a contribution to them on behalf of me. It was a great feeling to have the support and be able to give back!