I was in my second year of studying at UCI, enjoying winter break after the fall quarter had ended. Although I had a slight cold at the time, I was usually in good health and I didn’t have any worries about my health until my friends and I noticed abnormal bruising on my body. The first big sign was a huge bruise on my arm that really had no reason being there. During Christmas week, I decided to visit the UCI Student Health Center for a blood test to see what might be the issue. I was told I had time to eat lunch and come back so I left the health center and went back to my apartment in Irvine, which was only 5 minutes away. Before I had even arrived to my apartment, the doctor called me from the health center and very urgently told me to come back.

The blood tests showed that my blood counts were lower than normal, but the doctor was especially alarmed at my platelet count, which was at 2. The normal range is 150 – 450. So I called my mother who conveniently worked in Irvine to take me to the Emergency Room at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. After receiving a few platelet transfusions, I also went through a bone marrow biopsy on December 23rd to obtain a clearer diagnosis for what was going on with my blood counts. My few days in the hospital ended and I was given an early diagnosis of ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenia), an autoimmune disorder in which your body attacks its own platelets. It explained the low platelet counts and the hematologist prescribed me a steroid called Prednisone to combat the ITP. Looking back on the situation, I didn’t think much of it and spent the next few days resting and trying to enjoy the rest of winter break.

On December 29th, while spending time with some friends in Irvine, my coughing became very intense and I began to feel very weak. I came home around midnight and felt horrible. Having been relatively healthy all my life, I was stubborn and ignored my symptoms. I spent the most of the night coughing up blood into a plastic bag by my side and trying to relieve a sharp pain in my side, barely able to walk without holding on to something. It wasn’t until around 8 in the morning that I acknowledged my defeat, realizing that I could not get up and out of my top bunk bed without help. None of my roommates were home at the time so I called my mother, who thankfully worked in Irvine, to get me and take me to the emergency room again at Hoag Hospital.

Now it was December 30th, and my mom and I had just arrived at Hoag. She got out of the car to help me into a wheelchair, since I had no energy to get myself out of my car or even walk. The next few hours or so were a blur with nurses here and there evaluating me and drawing labs until I was sent to a room in the back where more nurses came. The worst part was when they drew blood from my arteries in my wrist. Thank God I’m not afraid of needles. The first nurse came in and stuck a fat needle into my right wrist and dug around. Nothing. She missed. Again. Nothing. Another nurse came in since each nurse only gets 2 tries. Nothing. She missed twice too. On to the next nurse. First try on the left wrist. Yay, that was fun.

So after that fun part, I think I just waited some more. All I remember is an Asian doctor who I had never met and never spoke to again came in to tell me that at the moment, I was dealing with a bad case of Pneumonia, which would have to be treated immediately, and H1N1, the swine flu strain. Then he proceeded to tell me I had Aplastic Anemia. Honestly, I don’t remember what I thought at this moment. I had never heard of the disease and just sat as he explained, but I was too sick and tired to process anything.

In simple terms, Aplastic Anemia is a disease in which the bone marrow does not make enough blood cells for the body. From what I’ve learned so far, it’s an autoimmune disorder in which my immune system attacks my bone marrow, damaging it and preventing it from producing blood cells. My diagnosis was Very Severe Aplastic Anemia, which basically meant my blood counts were very very low. The cause is unknown. Be The Match says this: “Aplastic anemia is rare. In the United States, about 600-900 people are diagnosed each year, according to the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation. Aplastic anemia occurs more frequently in eastern Asian countries. It can affect people of any age, but it is most common in young adults. For most cases, the cause is unknown.”

Next – Part 2: HOAG ICU and Sub-ICU