Wednesday Update

The Bond Family received disheartening news yesterday. Addison's bone marrow biopsy came back showing that she has borderline Severe Aplastic Anemia. Basically this means her bone marrow is failing and it affects approximately 3 out of every million people in the US. It is failing to create red and white blood cells and platelets. Her red blood count had dropped yesterday to below normal range and her platelets were still at 3,000 and not showing any signs of increasing so we the doctors decided Addison needed a blood transfusion and platelets. They started the transfusions around 6pm. The platelets took about an hour and then they started the red blood cells transfusion around 8:30 and it took close to 5 hours. Needless to say it was a day full of tears and anxiety of what comes next and a night full of more tears and no sleep.

We did wake up with the best news we have had in over a week and that was: we got to go home today! YIPPEEE!!! Of course this good news came with some not so good news. Addison's white blood cell count was the lowest it has been. A normal range is above 6 and she is less than 3. This makes her very prone to illness and infection. It is wonderful being home. Thankfully Charlotte is here and she was able to have our carpets cleaned and started cleaning all of Addison's toys. We will have to be extra careful with her and make sure we do not put her little immune system in danger. My sister had been in town helping us Friday through Monday and she was sweet enough to take Tootsie for us. Addison can be around animals but we have a long road ahead of us and it is easier on us to have Toots to worry about. Addison was so happy to see her home and play in her room and her playroom! Charles, Addison and I are all exhausted so it is an early night for us.

Moving forward Addison will go to the hemotologist's office Friday to have her blood levels checked and see how her body is handling the transfusions. When her levels get low again she will require more transfusions but they will take place in the clinic. Aplastic Anemia can be idiopathic (don't know why), viral or genetic. They are leaning toward idiopathic but have run a series of tests to confirm it is not viral or genetic. If idiopathic is confirmed then we will start ATG treatment which will require Addison to be hospitalized for about a week and then it takes about 90 days to fully take effect. This treatment has a 75% chance of cure. If it doesn't work she will go on to bone marrow transplant(please pray it doesn't get to this). If the tests come back showing it is genetic she will go straight to bone marrow transplant (pray it is not genetic). They believe her condition is too severe to be viral but if it is viral they will pinpoint virus, treat that and she will fix herself. The tests we are waiting on should be back within 3 weeks and until then they will manage her blood levels with weekly dr visits and we will keep her away from potentially dangerous situations (big crowds, dirt, pools, falling) until the real treatment can begin.

This whole situation really blows our minds. You would not know by looking at our sweet little girl she is carrying around an extremely rare and dangerous disease. She is still in great spirits and has a smile on her face! We are so proud of her and how well she handled all the needles, poking and prodding. There is a lot more to come but she has so many of us fighting with her and reassuring her with love that she will get better and get through it. We will continue to pray and believe that God will get her through this. Thank you all for your prayers and we will keep you updated.