Aplastic anemia Aplastic anemia: (ay-PLASS-tik uh-NEE_mee-uh) A rare and serious condition in which the bone marrow fails to make enough blood cells - red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The term aplastic is a Greek word meaning not to form. Anemia is a condition that happens when red blood cell count is low. Most… is known to most often strike children between ages 6 and 16, and as fate would have it, Liviya’s troubles became evident right on her sixth birthday. Clearly, this had started earlier but we didn’t know about it. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her. One possibility was leukemia, but she was later correctly diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia and had the blood counts to support that classification.
Liviya immediately began receiving blood and platelet platelet: The smallest type of blood cell. Platelets help the blood to clot and stop bleeding. Also called a thrombocyte. transfusions, of course. We learned that Liviya’s older brother Axel was not a match for bone marrow bone marrow: The soft, spongy tissue inside most bones. Blood cells are formed in the bone marrow. transplantation. Because of this, she started immunosuppressive therapy immunosuppressive therapy: Immunosuppressive drug therapy lowers your body's immune response. This prevents your immune system from attacking your bone marrow, allowing bone marrow stem cells to grow, which raises blood counts. For older patients with acquired aplastic anemia, immunosuppressive drug therapy is the… with horse ATG, treated at UNC hospital in Chapel Hill. She responded well. Our doctor said it was the best response he had seen in his 20+ years on the job. So our young horse enthusiast daughter was saved by horses.
Liviya was transfusion-independent within about 6 or 8 weeks, so she had started making more of her own blood cells again! She was also on G-CSF (Neupogen®) for many months. Now, every six months she goes back for tests and her counts are still improving.
There was a scare in June of 2016 when her ANC (absolute neutrophil neutrophil: (NOO-truh-fil) The most numerous of the white blood cells, important for helping the body fight infections (particularly bacterial and fungal infections. count) levels had dropped significantly. The doctors decided to wait another six weeks to see which direction things went. This was a tense time for us, but when she was tested recently her counts had improved again. Liviya continues to be monitored and will be well into her adult years.