Aplastic Anemia & pregnancy update

[Jane4224]

Hello - I posted in the forums last year when I was debating on which route to go for treatment for Aplastic Anemia. (Quick recap- I developed the condition during the second trimester of pregnancy. I had to have a C section after developing pre-eclampsia to safely deliver my daughter. Four months post-delivery, I still had the condition and I was trying to decide between a bone marrow transplant or immunotherapy).

So today I?m posting for two different reasons, an update and also an ask for support from the community. For treatment, I ended up going the immunotherapy route. Last April, I was hospitalized for a week and started with ATG infusions. I followed up with Promacta and Cyclosporine. So far so good, my platelets and white blood cells returned back to normal levels. Right now, my red blood cells are still below the normal range. I am still taking the immunosuppressant medications which is a little nerve racking with the pandemic going on but I am grateful on the progress I have seen so far.

I am posting this ask for support in the forums because I feel that this community understands better than anyone the challenges and heartbreak this condition causes. After I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, my hematologist and OBGYN both discouraged future pregnancies due to risk of relapse. My husband and I did IVF early on and we have a second embryo, a boy. Since I cannot carry my second child, we need to do surrogacy. We quickly learned it is a really expensive process; our health insurance does not cover it and I have applied to many grants without any luck. It is my greatest hope that my daughter will have the chance to grow up with her younger brother.

Our friends, Jason and Jackie Gundlach organized a Go Fund Me page for us. Any help with contributions or sharing the link for exposure would be appreciated. Thank you all.

Link: https://gofund.me/9c5d3761