Welcome to Aplastic Anemia on FaithandAwareness.com.  This portion of the site is dedicated to our oldest son who was recently diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia.

A little about the history of our situation and the reason for this site.

Our oldest son, who wishes to be nameless right now, recently came back to live with us and attend college locally.  It was wonderful news for us to know that he was coming back to our home.  He found a job, enrolled in school, rekindled some old friendships and found a nice young lady to spend time with.

Our world changed just a few weeks after he moved back.  He developed some unusual bruises on his arms that got bigger every day.  We took him to the doctor, had some lab work done, and admitted him to the hospital.  Very unusual, as he has been healthy his entire life.  The doctors at the hospital tried several treatments and ran many additional tests.  They finally had to do a bone marrow biopsy and that revealed that he had Severe Aplastic Anemia.

What a relief, we had been thinking Leukemia, or some other cancerous problem.  Aplastic Anemia didn't sound so bad.  What we have learned in the weeks since then is that it is a serious illness with some heavy treatment options.  We are at the very beginning of this process and have a great deal to learn, but we do know that it is a long road ahead for him and for us.

We will try to keep updates on a web journal to share what is going on, but for now, this is just a call for support and help.  He will need a Bone Marrow transplant in the near future.  There are no full siblings so we will have to find a non-related matched donor.  We are asking for anyone that can, and is willing, to sign up for the National Bone Marrow Donor program.  The test is simple cheek swab that can identify if you are a match.  You may not be a match for our son, but your participation could help someone else in the same situation.  We will be counting on the generosity of others to help our son, and will join the ranks to help as well.  Please visit www.marrow.org to learn more about registering as a donor.