DANEL PRINSLOOFUND RAISING CAMPAIGN

APLASTIC ANEMIAPATIENT

DANEL PRINSLOO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH APLASTIC ANEMIA IN 2008. SHE RECEIVED A FEW BLOOD TRANFUSIONS BEFORE HER TREATMENT TO STIMULATE THE BONE MARROW, TO DETERMINE IF HER BONE MARROW COULD PRODUCE BLOOD CELLS ON IT’S OWN.

SHE WAS THEN UNABLE TO FINISH HER GRADE 12 SCHOOL YEAR.

AFTER THE TREATMENT SHE WENT INTO REMISSION AND IN 2009, WITH THE PERMISSION OF HER DOCTOR, SHE RETURNED TO SCHOOL TO OBTAIN HER GRADE 12 CERTIFICATE.

FOLLOW-UP TESTS SHOWED THAT HER BLOOD COUNT WAS DROPPING AND SHE WAS ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL TO CONTINUE HER TREATMENT, AND ONCE AGAIN SHE COULD NOT FINISH HER SCHOOL YEAR.

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ALTHOUGH SHE WAS STILL UNDER TREATMENT, SHE ONCE AGAIN DECIDED TO TRY AND OBTAIN HER GRADE 12 CERTIFICATE, AND WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, SHE WAS ALLOWED TO WRITE HER EXAMS IN ISOLATION AND THEN OBTAINED HER GRADE 12 CERTIFICATE.

SHE WENT INTO REMISSION UNTIL EARLY 2013. SHE WAS ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT AGAIN, BUT HER DOCTOR, DR PJ DU TOIT FROM THE GARDEN CITY HOSPITAL IN JOHANNESBURG (TEL NO 011 837 5588), RECOMMENDS THAT SHE GET A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT. UNFORTUNATELY SHE WILL NEVER BE CURED, UNLESS SHE RECEIVES A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT. A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT IS HER ONLY CHANCE OF LIVING A HEALTHY AND NORMAL LIFE. WITHOUT A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT, SHE WILL HAVE TO UNDERGO THE VERY PAINFUL BONE MARROW EXTRACTIONS AND BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE.

UNDERSTANDING APLASTIC ANEMIA

APLASTIC ANEMIA IS A DISEASE IN WHICH THE BONE MARROW, AND THE BLOOD STEM CELLS THAT RESIDE THERE, ARE DAMAGED. THEREFORE THE BONE MARROW DOES NOT PRODUCE SUFFICIENT NEW CELLS TO REPLENISH THE OLD BLOOD CELLS. THIS CAUSES A DEFICIENCY OF ALL THREE BLOOD CELL TYPES, RED BLOOD CELLS (ANEMIA), WHITE BLOOD CELLS (LEUKOPENIA) AND PLATELETS (THROMBOCYTOPENIA). APLASTIC REFERS TO THE INABILITY OF THE STEM CELLS TO GENERATE MATURE BLOOD CELLS.

APLASTIC ANEMIA OCCURS MOSTLY IN PATIENTS IN THEIR TEENS AND TWENTIES, BUT ALSO AMONG THE ELDERLY.

IT CAN BE CAUSED BY EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS, MEDICATION, RADIATION, INFECTION, IMMUNE DISEASE, BUT IN ABOUT HALF OF THE CASES, THE CAUSE IS UNKNOWN.

APLASTIC ANEMIA IS ALSO SOMETIMES ASSOCIATED WITH EXPOSURE TO TOXINS SUCH AS BENZENE, OR WITH THE USE OF CERTAIN MEDICATIONS, INCLUDING CHLORAMPHENICOL (ANTIBIOTIC USED FOR EYE INFECTIONS), CARBAMEZEPINE (USED TO TREAT EPILEPTIC SEIZURES), FELBAMATE (TREATMENT FOR EPILEPSY), PHENYTOIN ( ALSO TREATMENT FOR EPILEPSY), QUININE (FOUND IN TONIC WATER) AND PHENYLBUTAZONE (AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY USED FOR TREATING RHEUMATIC DISEASES).

ANOTHER CAUSE IS AN AUTOIMMUNE DISORDER IN WHICH THE WHITE BLOOD CELLS ATTACK THE BONE MARROW.

IN DANEL’S CASE, THE ETIOLOGY IS CONSIDERED TO BE IDIOPATHIC – UNKNOWN OR CANNOT BE DETERMINED.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF APLASTIC ANEMIANAUSEASHORTNESS OF BREATH WITH EXERTIONHEADACHESSKIN RASHESNOSE BLEEDS AND BLEEDING GUMSFREQUENT OR PROLONGED INFECTIONSPALE SKINFATIGUEWEAKNESSDIZZINESSRAPID PULSEHEART MURMURAN ENLARGED HEART OR EVEN HEART FAILUREBRUISING AND TINY AREAS OF BLEEDING IN THE SKINABNORMAL BLEEDINGSWELLING OR PAIN IN THE ABDOMENSWELLING IN THE LEGS CAUSED BY BLOOD CLOTS

DIAGNOSIS:

THE DEFINITIVE DIAGNOSIS CAN ONLY BE DONE BY BONE MARROW BIOPSY, AN EXTREMELY PAINFUL PROCEDURE. BEFORE THIS PROCEDURE IS UNDERTAKEN, A PATIENT WILL GENERALLY HAVE HAD OTHER BLOOD TESTS DONE TO FIND DIAGNOSTIC CLUES, INCLUDING A COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT, RENAL FUNCTION AND ELECTROLYTES, LIVER ENZYMES, THYROID FUNCTION TESTS, VITAMIN B12 AND FOLIC ACID LEVELS.

NORMAL BONE MARROW HAS 30-70% BLOOD STEM CELLS, BUT IN APLASTIC ANEMIA, THESE CELLS ARE MOSTLY GONE AND REPLACED BY FAT.

TREATMENT:

APLASTIC ANEMIA CAN BE TREATED BY DAILY MEDICINE INTAKE OR IN MORE SEVERE CASES BY A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT. THE TRANSPLANTED BONE MARROW REPLACES THE FAILING BONE MARROW CELLS WITH NEW ONES FROM A MATCHING DONOR. THE MULTIPONENT STEM CELLS IN THE BONE MARROW RECONSTITUTE ALL THREE BLOOD CELL LINES, GIVING THE PATIENT A NEW IMMUNE SYSTEM AND NEW RED BLOOD CELLS AND PLATELETS.

APLASTIC ANEMIA COULD ALSO BE TREATED WITH IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE MEDICATION, TYPICALLY EITHER ANTI-LYMPHOCYTE GLOBULIN OR ANTI-THYMOCYTE GLOBULIN, COMBINED WITH CORTICOSTEROIDS AND CYCLOSPORINE, WITH A RESPONSE RATE OF ABOUT 70% (THIS PROCEDURE FAILED WITH DANEL), WHICH INDICATES THAT APLASTIC ANEMIA HAS AN AUTO-IMMUNE COMPONENT. STEM CELL TRANSPLANTS ARE ALSO USED.

A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT COSTS AN ESTIMATED R500,000-00! IT COULD EVEN BE MORE THAN THAT. DANEL’S MEDICAL AID DOES NOT COVER THE DONOR SEARCH AND BONE MARROW HARVESTING AND TRANSPLANT!

IF THIS PRESENTATION TOUCHED YOUR HEART, KINDLY MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS DANEL’S MEDICAL EXPENSES AND BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT.

BANKING DETAILS:

DANEL PRINSLOO MEDICALFIRST NATIONAL BANK – ESHOWECHEQUE ACCOUNTACCOUNT NUMBER: 624 253 746 92BRANCH CODE: 220 230

IF YOU WISH TO BECOME A BONE MARROW DONOR YOU CAN REGISTER WITH THE SUNFLOWER FUND. CONTACT THEM TOLL FREE ON: 0800 12 10 82

SHOULD YOU THINK YOU REQUIRE MORE INFORMATION BEFORE MAKING A DONATION, YOU CAN CONTACT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING PERSONS:

DR PJ DU TOIT, GARDEN CITY HOSPITAL, JOHANNESBURG (DANEL’S DOCTOR)CONTACT NUMBER: 011 837 5588

RONEL PRINSLOO (DANEL’S MOTHER)CONTACT NUMBER: 081 397 0422

HANNELIE KRUGER (FAMILY FRIEND)CONTACT NUMBER: 082 563 1134

ENGELA VERMEULEN (FAMILY FRIEND)CONTACT NUMBER: 035 474 5553