Thankyou Blood Donors

We left home and went to St. Luke's Hospital where a blood test was carried out immediatley. My son looked really pale, his skin was so white as if he was made of wax. He was hospitalised and anxiously we waited for the result of his blood test. His blood count turned out to be all low, and we were advised that he needed a blood transfusion.

My head was spinning, I started to fear the worst, by the looks of it, everything indicated that my son had Leukemia, I was devasted but nothing yet confirmed, I prayed to the good Lord. We had to wait for more tests to be carried out until we had a confirmed diagnosis.

I left the hospital crying my eyes out to go and get his stuff from home. A million questions ran through my head. Why my son? Maybe it is not Leukemia, maybe it is, but what could it be? What is wrong with tim?

I waited anxiously for the next day, to see what his Consultant was going to say. Unfortunately not much was said, as the Consultant could not comment until more tests were carried out. He ordered him a bone marrow biopsy to confirm the blood film results and again we had to wait for the results to come out. Everyday seemed a year!

A week passed and my son looked fine and healthy, his colour improved, however his blood counts were found low again, thwere was no improvement, and he needed to be transfused again. He was put in isolation t prevent him from infections.

Finally his diagnosis was confirmed, it was not Leukemia! It was Aplastic Anemia.

I was grateful that it was not Leukemia, I was so happy, I had high hopes again that my son was going to be ok, not knowing that it could also be a very serious and much more dangerous than Leukemia.

Aplastic Anemia turned out to be a very rare life threatening disorder in which there is a failure of the bone marrow to produce sufficient blood cells for the circulation. The condition is neither present at birth nor inherited but can develop during someone's life. It occurs 2 in a million. I'm sure that as you are reading this article, you are thinking that the chances of aquiring Aplastic Anemia are very slim, my son was one of the two in a milion!

There are three stages of Aplastic Anemia, which are moderate, severe and very severe. I hoped and prayed that my son's would be moderate as the condition could be reversed by transfusion support only.

However, my son was diagnosed with very severe Aplastic Anema. All aptients have the same chance of responding to treatment when the severity of the bone marrow failure is taken into account. My son required both supportive therapy and also definite treatment, immunosuppression therapy and / or stem cell transplant.

Our life changed, the hospital became our home, our smiles vanished and sadness and fear ruled our day, I made a lot of research on th disease and learned as much as possible about it, went through the possible treatment available, prognosis seemed encouraging but many complications could arise druing the course of treatment.

They started his treatment and the side effects were severe, I saw my son going through agony, deteriorating day after day. He was in great pain and very weak. But he never gave up he was strong and optimistic all the way, that he filled me up with hope.

It takes 3 months or even longer to see the first signs of recovery if treatment is successful.

My son's immune system was destroyed, he had no white cells to defend him from infections, his counts which help the blood to clot were also very low, and his red cells were also low. He desperately needed to be transfused nearly every other day for him to survive, and be able to take treatment.

We waited anxiously every day for the blood test results, to see if there were any improvements in his counts, but to our despair day after day there was no change. Together we continued hoping and prayed for the three months to pass, may be we will see a sign of recovery.

The Blood and Platelets Donors become his heroes because without their kindness and generosity he could not live. He completely depended on supportive therapy, and these people were his Life Savers. Without Blood and Platelet transfusions hew was in extreme danger.

During these two and a half months I literally lived at the hospital, nothing mattered to me anymore I have learned how precious little things were, things that we take for granted. Our love and bonding for each other grew stronger every day, and we cherished every minute we had together.

The air that we breathe became a dangerous source to my son's health, as he had no defence to fight any bacteria or infections, the infections took over and took my son's life away.

All I have now, are the precious moments that I passed with my son which I owe to all blood and platelets donors.

My whole hearted gratitude goes out to all who have helped make this possible. Therefore I would like to encourage anyone of you reading this article to become blood/platelet donors, because someone's life depends on your generosity.

My son's heroes gave us the opportunity to spend more precious time together, by prolonging his life. Without their kind gesture this would not have been possible.

Save a life and donate the greatest gift of All, Donate Blood! Donate Life!

Thank you

Mary Ann Tabone Valetta