[evansmom]

Beautiful reply Brian.

Hi Janire,
It sounds to me like you are already a tough warrior, having had all the treatments and transfusions you have had yet still being able to get on with life. And without complications!

Unfortunately, there is no right or wrong answer. You have to do what is best for you. A crystal ball would be so useful right about now, but alas, none exists.

It is true that transplant can be a long hard road to come back on and yes, the reality is that not every one makes it but there are a great many more that come back stronger than ever, both physically and spiritually. There are many who can attest that the challenges of recovery with many a set back was still so worth the fight years later, once they have finally stabilized.

Provided the potential donor is indeed a very good match (10/10) and is able and willing to donate, these are the things I would consider if I were you:

-It appears that you are currently relying on transfusions to keep you alive as it is, this routine may or may not continue to sustain you satisfactorily.
-Your history with aplastic anemia indicates that you will likely continue to need ATG/cyclosporin treatements for a continuing recurrance of the disease.
-You have shown a good tolerance to these strong immunosuppressive treatments in the past
-You are still relatively young.

You likely have significant iron overload, which can contribute to complications during transplant with your heart and liver, but your BMT specialists will be aware of this and take extra precautions to protect these organs such as using a non-myeloablative approach, or adding special medications for protection such as ursodiol, etc.

For me, the matter realy rests on the quality of donor match.
These are just my opinions, but I hope it helps.

Best wishes,