Friday, May 21, 2004
I Will Survive
Had the opportunity to speak with two Aplastic Anemia survivors. Yesterday I spoke with Mechelle, who was diagnosed with AA 6 years ago when she was 31. She explained what it was like during the treatment as well as the post-treatment phases, both of which involved a ton of blood transfusions. The drugs are delivered through several tubes inserted into one's chest area using a Hickman's catheter. She said it wasn't too painful :)
She's been on cyclosporine since, though she's trying to get off it now. She had a relapse about a year later and had to undergo a second treatment; she couldn't go the BMT route as her only sibling's HLA didn't quite match closely enough. But she said she feels normal now and is living her life "normally".
Today we spoke Cindy, who happens to be a Christian, and also the founder of a local AA support group. She shared her experience with AA almost 20 years ago, and how she felt led to form a support group to help others go through the same ordeal. She said she will pray with us and look forward to meeting with us some day at a support group meeting.
