http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/aplastic-anemia/home/ovc-20266528
One of my dearest friends, Melissa Donnelly Kohler, has been diagnosed with a rare disease called Aplastic Anemia (https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/aplastic/) and will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant. Melissa is wife to her awesome husband, Chris, and their three young children: Cahlen 9, Meara 5, and Jack 2. Melissa is being treated at the Hillman CancerCenter in Pittsburgh. She has already spent countless hours in the hospital and away from her family undergoing immunosuppressive therapy and transfusions to give her new platelets and red blood cells. Unfortunately, the immunosuppressive therapy alone was not able to obtain the results the doctors were looking for. Due to the severity of her situation, she will need a bone marrow transplant. Fortunately, as of now she is matched with a donor, so if all goes as planned Melissa will be able to have the treatments (three chemotherapies plus full body radiation) followed by the transplant in about four to six weeks.
Recovery for a procedure of this magnitude is grueling. Melissa will spend a full month in the hospital followed by a minimal of three months’ bed rest, with the first 100 days being the most critical. Because she has three small children at home, she will be moving out to live with her sister, reducing her risk of exposure to germs.
Anything you are able to give would be so helpful during this stressful time for Melissa and her family.