Stories of Hope
To better understand the impact of bone marrow failure, we present stories told by the patients, parents, family members, and spouses who are living with these illnesses. Our entire community benefits from the insightful stories patients and family members share with us about their personal journeys.
Shauna McMillan
“Never Lose Faith!” Shauna’s Update
When Shauna was diagnosed with MDS, she knew she would have to leave her home in Alaska for treatment. She chose to move to North Carolina where her extended family lived. With access to specialists there, and having a supportive network, this proved to be an excellent plan.
Shauna began the ATG protocol in 2016. After completing this treatment, she remained transfusion-dependent. Yet she never gave up. Then, in September, 2017, she began a treatment regimen with Decitabine. This regimen...
Sarah Anders
Survivorship and Anxiety: Sarah's Update Eight Years Post-Transplant
“OK,” said Dr. A, as he pivoted away from the screen. “You don’t have to come back anymore.”
He said it without any great sense of ceremony. It was my annual appointment, about 4.5 years after my allogeneic bone marrow transplant for Aplastic Anemia, and I had had the usual panic leading up to the appointment.
I feel okay, but what if this fatigue is something more? If the constant colds I catch are a sign of something sinister?
My lifelong struggle with anxiety had been exacerbated by two...
Xisto Montoya
Now a Nurse, 10-Year-Old Xisto Survived Aplastic Anemia
By the time he was 10 years old, Xisto had earned a Black Belt in taekwando. He was traveling to, and winning, competitions.
Yet he was tired enough to fall asleep at unusual times. Then the petechiae developed, all over his feet and hips. Multiple doctors assumed this was a rash, and since he didn’t show signs of illness, he continued with his busy life.
On the way to another competition, he was snacking on sunflower seeds. Suddenly, his gums began to bleed. Even now he remembers the...
Patrick McLaughlin
Teen Athlete's Normal Life Interrupted by Severe Aplastic Anemia and Lengthy Treatment
“You must go to Children’s Hospital now.”
Ninth grader Patrick McLaughlin was surprised, but followed his mom’s lead, who calmly drove to the Emergency Department while disguising her fear and confusion.
Earlier that week, while Ellie was on a business trip, her elder son, Liam, called. “Mom, Paddy’s still sleeping after early dismissal.” It was 8:30pm. At that moment, she knew that she needed to take him to the doctor. She flew home as soon as she could, picked Patrick up at track and field...
Jane Biehl, PhD
Never Give Up Hope
I am thrilled because I have already written two articles for AAMDS and am now writing a third one at their request. I am so grateful to still be well enough to do this.
The first article, written in 2017, talked about my initial diagnosis in 2010 of MDS del5Q. MDS is separated into 5 categories and typically patients live the longest with this extremely rare type.
I had a very insensitive oncologist who told me, right after the diagnosis, that the average life span was 104 months. I was...
Tiffany Wiggleton
Tiffany: “My Bone Marrow is Failing Me”
Tiffany was putting her degree in psychology to work. A Bethune-Cookman University graduate, she was working her dream job in a facility in Jacksonville, Florida. Then the diagnosis of Aplastic Anemia came out of nowhere.
An active student, Tiffany had been a cheerleader through school. After graduation she coached cheerleading until she landed her dream job.
One day in February she noticed a strange bruise on her back. At the same time, she had been noting how her menstrual cycles seemed...
Sahar Masoom
Surviving Loss: A Journey from Losing Homeland to Surviving Bone Marrow Failure
Hello this is Sahar, a woman who fled her homeland followed by the failure of her bone marrow within 6 months. I am a daughter, a devoted wife, a mom to two adorable children. I am an Afghan refugee, but today I stand as a survivor- having battled Aplastic Anemia and undergone a life altering bone marrow transplant.
"Life is a foray of mysteries," as expresses by Suleika Jaouad. I led a simple yet meaningful life in Kabul, a city renowned for its unfortunate tag as one of the most dangerous...
Lisa Gosnay
Lisa: Finding the Light
Lisa loved her work.
As a Senior Teacher in the UK, she dedicated herself, her time, and her passion to her job. An average week saw her working 70 hours.
Following a beach holiday in the Canary Islands, she developed a strange rash on the top of her feet. A colleague urged her to go to the doctor.
The doctor suggested she was bleeding under the skin, sending her for blood work. The next day, she went to the lab and a few hours later received a call from her doctor: “You are seriously ill. ...
Meghin Kiernan
"I Consider Myself Lucky:" New Mom Meghin Can Live her Life Now
On October 24th, 2022 I received the phone call that would change my life. Enjoying a ten minute bubble bath, I initially ignored the vibrating phone along the tub's porcelain edge. My husband had recently embarked on an overseas business trip, and for the first time I was parenting as a single parent. Exhausted, my throat sore, I had just put my seven month old son to bed and wanted nothing more than to snuggle into my cozy bed and sleep. I never did get to sleep.
Exiting the tub, I noted a...
Dianne Witter
"Let's Roll:" What the Heroes of 9/11 can Teach us about Facing Blood Cancer
The morning of 9/11/01 was a doubly surreal experience for me. I was waiting for an appointment with my doctor at M. D. Anderson's Leukemia Center in Houston while chaos erupted in America. The waiting room was packed, as usual, with people at various stages of their own life-threatening events, and I was struck by the relative calm in this room compared to the state of disbelief and panic playing out on TVs throughout the country. I realized that each of us in that waiting room had already...