hi everyone
my name is Summer. I am 25 years old and was diagnosed with SAA on May 17, 2013, recieved my transplant on june 7, 2013 and was discharged from the hospital on june 27, 2013. my numbers started continuously dropping when i was about 7 months pregnant with my daughter. while in labor with her, my platelets kept dropping. i delivered at 13000 platelets. i was scared to death1 they had bags of blood ready and had an iv placed in my neck just in case i started to bleed out. (which i didnt) you have to have over 80000 platelets to have an epidural so i had my daughter without any pain medications at all. totally not the plan, but i knew i could do it. well she was coming either way
so after i had her, my platelets were 15 and my hemo was 7. they let me go because i was fine otherwise, just wanted me to see my hemotologist in 2 weeks.
so i kept seeing this hemotologist who told me that i was just a mystery and he couldnt figure me out. he send me for blood transfusions and platelets numerous times and they didnt work at all. i finally got fed up and decided to go down to the ohio state university emergency room because i had heard there was a cancer hospital which meant lots of good hemotologists were going to be there as well. when i got there my platelets were at 6 and my hemo was a 5. i just thought, they will just give me a shot or something and send me on my way. boy was i wrong. i was admitted immediately and spend the next 6 weeks in the hospital. away from my 6 week old newborn baby girl. i was devestated. my mom brought her to see me every day she could.
anyway, both my brothers were tested and one was a match. they told me it could take up to a month to get his results, and it only took three days. i was transplanted within 2 weeks of finding out he was a match. i did a week of chemo and atg. i also had one radiation treatment that made me sick as a dog!
i am now almost 7 months out of transplant and feeling amazing. hemo is 13-14 and platelets are in the 130-160 range. have had some gvhd symptoms but nothing serious. i can enjoy being a wife and a mom as i am supposed to now. very thankful to be here!!
p.s. i apologize for all the grammar mistakes. my phone wont let me capitalize or use good punctuation
