Friday, June 3, 2011

Diagnosis & Prognosis

The 'osis' is Aplastic Anemia. We were holding out that it could be something else, but all of the testing has eliminated assumptions of whether or not it's non-classic ITP or another type of blood disorder. We remain prayerful that her body has the potential to turn this around by itself in the same way that it has seemingly shut down full production.

We have two treatment options, a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) or Autoimmune Suppression Therapy (AST). If one of her siblings are a match, the Drs. feel strongest about the Bone Marrow Transplant because it gives us the greatest chance of addressing the issue in it's entirety. It takes about 4-6 months to measure the effectiveness of Autoimmune Suppression Therapy. One of the downsides to committing to AST is the possibility of additional transfusions throughout the process which decreases our chances of a sibling donor match.

The bone marrow typing process takes about two weeks. There are several markers used for matching. A good match is considered one that meets at least 6 of those criteria. Once a match is determined, Reya would be scheduled for the transplant within 1-10 days. The high level overview of the procedure is she would require several days of chemotherapy and a 4-6 week hospital stay for monitoring and recovery. We are praying that either Jalen or Makinley will be a donor match for Mireya. If either is not a match, the Bone Marrow Registry would be used to find a suitable match. In the meantime, Mireya would begin Autoimmune Suppression Therapy before a Bone Marrow Transplant would be performed with a non-sibling match, due to some of the problems that could occur. Issues could arise with a sibling match, but the likelihood of those issues is lessened when the marrow genetically comes from the same place. So please pray with us that Jalen or Makinley will be a match for her.

We have not been able to get this fever under control. It has spiked anywhere from 102-103.6. She is taking a very high dose antibiotic via IV, but has spent most of the day listless and sleeping. She did perk up when Daddy brought her brothers and sisters to see her. In order to be released she has to be fever free for 24 hours. I'm praying by this time tomorrow we will be able to go home.

2 comments:

  1. We're praying with you! Praying for a match. Praying for her to fight the infection. Praying for your strength too.

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  2. Thank you. Those are our prayers too! The Lord is going to work it out!!!!

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