Perforated Abdomen with AA - can it heal?

[Kelly]

I will not go into the long story of my sister and her condition and how she is still in the hospital since January however, she has Aplastic Anemia and a endoscopy caused perforated abdomen. My question is, can the perforated abdomen heal itself when you have AA and if not, can she have surgery or is that too risky with the disease. There is talk of her going to get a bone marrow transplant as the ATG did not take affect.. but can she have this with the perforated abdomen? I would think that would be too risky because of the infection risk. Thoughts? Are their any doctors out there that we can talk to about getting a second opinion? We are all lost.

thank you.

[Neil Cuadra]

Kelly,

A perforated abdomen is very unfortunate. I've read that surgery is often necessary and that prompt treatment is important.

As you suspect, it's risky to have surgery when you have the low blood counts that are typical of aplastic anemia. Bleeding, infection, and lack of hemoglobin are all high on the list of concerns. But doing nothing is risky too.

You are wise to seek expert opinions about this and about the transplant risk, and that includes getting second opinions. If you are in New York then there are definitely many doctors you can consult, to give you confidence that you are making the right choices.

I don't have the answers, but I encourage you to arrange these consultations soon.