Twin Donates Bone Marrow Update

In May we wrote about a young man, 8 year-old Garrett Kaulbars, who had been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia.  Garrett was fortunate to have a twin brother, Tanner, who was a perfect match for Garrett to have a bone marrow transplant.  The transplant  took place on May 27th and now Garrett waits and waits and waits.   What he really wants is to have seafood at the Red Lobster but that can't happen until after September 4th.

September 4th is Garrett's 100-day anniversary of his bone marrow transplant.  That is the date on which, if things continue to go well, he will be considered out of the woods and be allowed to do things  like going out for seafood.    After the transplant he stayed at the Ronald McDonald House until July 10th.  Since then he has been home but quite restricted.

“The only time he can leave the house is for doctor’s appointments,” said Becky West, the boys’ mother. “He’s doing remarkably well.”

Now he wears a mask, washes his hands a lot and takes lots of medications.  He can't go out for food nor can he enjoy take-out food because of the concern about food-handling and preparation.  His appetite is coming back and he loves vegetables, particularly broccoli and corn.   He will  have a bone biopsy to check how his immune system rebuilding is progressing.

Aplastic Anemia: The disease of the future

Coping with a rare disease such as aplastic anemia is not an easy task.  The hardest part to deal with is finding out what causes the disorder.  I have not been diagnosed with the disorder, but my father has.  The doctors have linked the development of his diagnosis to the exposure of benzene within his occupational environment.  Other occupational and environmental exposures to certain chemicals have created a higher risk for developing aplastic anemia.  How could these occupational/environmental exposures to certain chemicals lead to the prevalence of aplastic anemia in the future?

Source:  Chelsey's Blog

Aplastic Anemia Treatment

Was reading a blog post about Aplastic Anemia Treatment.  It is a pretty good post with general information on treating Aplastic Anemia. 

The treatment of aplastic anemia was considered once as impossible ones. But, currently many therapeutic applications are available for the affected persons like transfusion of blood or bone marrow replacement together with appropriate medications. Platelet transfusion also helps the treatment.

Iron chelation therapy is undertaken when repeated transfusions of red blood cells are given. However, it needs a periodical monitoring of blood status.

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In general, stress free life with good feeding with enough protein and fiber help to prevent the disease of aplastic anemia.

The only negative comment I have is concerning the idea that if you lead a stress free life that it will help in preventing aplastic anemia.  That seems overly broad.  I think that if we lead a stress free life it will help a lot of things, but I don't know about preventing aplastic anemia.

Source:  Alvin Soong's Blog