by Laura

When I was in 5th grade, I could barely breathe. Really! If I just walked from the car to the house or any other short distance I had the hardest time catching my breath.

People told me that I looked as pale as a ghost, too, which is not the nicest comparison in the world, but I guess they were right.

Finding out

The day I found out what was going on with my body was the day that I woke up with one of my eyes swollen. I didn't feel good at all.

I tried to go to school, but since I had a fever and lots of bruises AND a bloody nose that lasted 90 minutes, no lying, I didn't stay very long. Instead I ended up going to the doctor. And then to the hospital!

Testing times

After a lot of medical people tested my blood and my bone marrow, they figured out what was happening to my body.

This Sherlock Holmes part was not one bit of fun, believe me! I eventually found out that I have this disease called aplastic anaemia. Now I'm an old pro and can tell you all about it.

The low-down

People who have aplastic anaemia have bone marrow that just stops working right. Bone marrow is the soft spongy material inside your bones that contains something called stem cells. These are incredibly important little guys that are in charge of making three different types of blood cells.

When you don't have normal stem cells, well then you're just out of luck...Your bone marrow doesn't make the red blood cells and the white blood cells and the platelets that you need. Don't ask me how it happened. Nobody knows, but I can tell you that nothing I did made me get aplastic anaemia.

Tough time

As you can see, it is no wonder that I have a tough time with this disease. Without healthy stem cells, I just don't have enough white blood cells to prevent infections, or red blood cells to look pink and to breathe easily, or platelets to keep from getting nose bleeds.

All about me

Now that's enough about my disease. Here's a little about the really important things that make me ME! I love everything purple, but I bet you guessed that already. Did you also guess that my favourite soda flavour is rootbear?

I have four cats and a dog. I am in my school's jazz band, choir, concert band, as well as my church's orchestra. I love to read, use the internet and e-mail, Rollerblade (when I can) ride my bike (when I can), and much more.

School fun

I love to go to school because I get to be around my friends and talk to them in person and not just over the phone. It's fun to be in classes, too, so that I can learn from the teachers and not just from tutors.

Luckily, I have some great friends who care. They are very kind. I can tell them about my disease and they understand and don't get all scared. We like to joke and they treat me like a human. They don't feel sorry for me either. I sure wish everybody treated me that way!

This story may have been edited by Children First for Health for editorial and confidentiality reasons only.

For more help and information:

• The Aplastic Anaemia Trust is a charity dedicated to research into aplastic anaemia and bone marrow failure.
• The National Blood Service can also help.

Copyright © Great Ormond Street Hospital