The Story

In the fall of 2010 I received word that my brother, Jordan Sielaff, had been rushed to the emergency room by his concerned wife.  He had a bleeding sore throat and was in an extreme amount of pain.  The doctors at the ER informed him that there was something very, very wrong.  No one knew just what it was, but he was not allowed to leave the hospital while they performed test after test.  I was living in the Dominican Republic at the time and it felt tortuous to wait by helplessly for more news on how Jordan was doing.  Finally it was confirmed that he had Severe Aplastic Anemia.

Aplastic Anemia?

I had thought that there would be relief in finally knowing Jordan’s diagnosis.  Instead I was more confused than before – I had never heard of Aplastic Anemia.  Initially I was misinformed that it was a type of cancer.  In fact it is very much like a cancer and is often treated in similar ways, but it is actually bone marrow failure.  I did some research and this is a quick summation of what I found out:

Everyone’s blood cells die off.  In a healthy person’s body, the bone marrow will continually make new blood cells.  But when your bone marrow fails, your body stops producing enough blood cells and your blood count can go down at an alarming rate.  Without enough blood, your heartbeat becomes irregular, your heart becomes enlarged, you are extremely susceptible to infections, and eventually your heart will fail completely.
Treatments
The immediate and temporary treatment for someone with as bad a case as my brother is blood transfusions.  From the time he entered the hospital Jordan was receiving blood transfusions on a daily basis.  The long term treatment is to receive a bone marrow or stem cell transplant.  With this transplant there is about an 80% chance of full recovery and a 20% chance of death... but you have to find someone who is a bone marrow match first.
Waiting
I flew to California as soon as possible to see if I was a match.  Siblings are always tested first because they are the ones that are most likely to be a match - but even then only 1 in 4 siblings are a match.  We waited anxiously for 2 weeks to see if any of Jordan's siblings would be the one.  We cried and laughed and jumped up and down when we found out that one of us (out of 7 siblings!) was a bone marrow match for Jordan.  The scariest part was over - now that we knew Jordan had a match we knew that he had an 80% chance of recovery rather than a 100% chance of death. 
The Transplant
My brother Jonathan flew down to L.A. from Portland, Oregon and donated his stem cells to Jordan.  Because Jonathan was a sibling match, he was able to donate stem cells rather than bone marrow, which is a much easier and less painful process.
On October 19th Jordan received the transplant and on October 29th he was discharged after being in the hospital for 2 months.
Today Jordan is considered to be in full remission.  I thank God for the doctors and nurses that took care of Jordan while he was in the hospital, for my brother Jonathan who was a match, for Jordan's employers at Ace Wireless who helped out so much during that time (they even provided my airfare to and from LA!) and especially for his wife who made sure he went to the hospital in the first place and stayed by his hospital bed pretty much the entire time.  She is amazing and an inspiration to me.
What now?
It is hard to believe that less than a year ago I had no idea what Aplastic Anemia was.  I didn't even know there was a Bone Marrow Registry!  That is why it is so important to me to raise awareness about this and other bone marrow diseases now.  On July 13th Robbie and I will begin our 2180 mile long hike on the Appalachian Trail.  We have a pretty high goal of raising $5 per mile in the hopes that the money we raise will help save lives.  You can help by donating, spreading awareness, giving blood, and joining the Be The Match Registry.  When Jordan needed a transplant, he was blessed with a sibling match.  A lot of people who need a bone marrow transplant don't know where (or whom) it will come from.  You could be a match for someone who needs one right now!  By joining the bone marrow registry, you could be the difference between giving someone with a 100% chance of death an 80% chance to live.