January 24, 2008 NH woman suffers aplastic anemia Play video

(NECN) - Ten years ago this month, mutual friends introduced Rick, a Peterboro, NH police officer, and Nicole, a physician's assistant at Concord Hospital. They have been married for five years and welcomed curly-haired Katie in September of 2006. Their life hasn't been the same since.

Just week's after her daughter's first birthday, a bone marrow biopsy revealed Nicole has aplastic anemia, a near absence of stem cells in her bone marrow. Her body doesn't produce enough of its own red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. The diagnosis brought shock, and then intense focus for this young family.

They post drive after drive on the website www.marrow.org and even though the Nelsons have registered some 2,000 potential donors, not one has been able to help Nicole. Her Native American ancestry makes for a difficult tissue match, yet time is precious.

A transfusion is a whole-day and exhausting process for Nicole. She barely leaves the house as it is, wears a mask in public to shield against infections and keeps little Katie out of daycare.

Aplastic anemia can lead Nicole's body to reject its own stem cells so she is on immunosuppressant drugs. The common cold could prove a fatal threat. The regular blood transfusions maintain the few defenses she still has.

Both Rick and Nicole were regular blood donors before she got sick. Now, they encourage everyone to give blood and take the swab test to see if they can

be bone marrow donors too. In the meantime, the family hopes, waits and looks forward to a life after she is cured. NECN's Lauren Collins has the story.