irony

On Tuesday, I got an exciting email. Remember WAAAAY back in January when I took Bounce and Cheer to the Health and Fitness Expo? I signed up with the National Bone Marrow Donor Program.

Well, I got an email that I am a potential match for someone who needs a bone marrow transplant. It was especially welcome news after tragically losing a friend over the weekend. I could (potentially) save a life. Somehow, it made me feel better. (It's a long process and I'm just in the first cut. If I'm selected for the next round, I have to go get bloodwork done and we go from there.)

So I called the 800 number in the email and went over my medical history with the person on the other end. She asked a lot of questions, most of which I sailed right through. Like, "Do you have hepatitis?" "Do you have HIV?"

But then she asked, "Do you have any bleeding conditions, like hemophilia?"

GAH.

As far as I KNOW, I don't have any bleeding conditions. I mean, I don't have hemophilia. So I said no, but then I did a little research.

Because you remember all those questions Shout's doctors asked me about tampons? Well, the most likely condition that she has (if she has a diagnosable condition) is Von Willebrand disease, which is a mild bleeding disorder (primary symptom, excessive menstrual bleeding). It's the most common hereditary bleeding disorder. It's not X-chromosome linked, like hemophilia, so it would not be related to her Turner Syndrome. It would more likely be inherited, from ME.

So if she tests positive, then I will get tested. And then all the other kids.

And guess what? Von Willebrand disease disqualifies you from ever being a bone marrow donor.

Crap.

So should we start a pool on whether or not either of us has it?