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different from what we were used to. Many of the patients in the waiting room looked pale, exhausted and many had lost their hair. It really brought us to the harsh reality that we had just crossed the line into more serious conditions.

We were assigned to a young Dr. who explained that Mike's blood counts could be affected by many different situations. It could be that his body was not metabolizing Vitamin B-12 or Folic Acid correctly, or a list of things as long your arm. We chose to select the faulty metabolizing as what we would hook our prayers on. After a good physical examination and many health questions, we were told to visit the hospital the next morning for extensive blood tests.

The blood work was completed the next morning, and the first of what would be many, anguished waiting for result periods began. One week later, we were called from the Dr.'s office to come and visit to discuss the test results. With a lump in our throats, and hearts beating quickly, we listened as the Dr. said that his metabolism was fine, and there was a possibility that this was a chronic form of Leukemia, or perhaps Myelodysplastic Syndrome. A disease we had never heard of.

We went on to hear that the only way to diagnose the problem would be to get a Bone Marrow Biopsy (BMB in Dr. Terms). I don't know how familiar many folks are with this procedure, but it involves inserting a long drill needle into the bone in your hip and extracting marrow for testing. Not usually a very pleasant experience for anyone.

The procedure had to be done not twice, but four times on different occasions, and produced no specimens that could be adequately diagnosed. During this time, approximately four to five weeks elapsed, since the Dr. did not want to really tell us that these tests were in vain. The meetings we had with him focused on Mike "probably" having Myelodysplastic Syndrome.
Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) is an insidious group of diseases that basically destroys your immune system and bone marrow. MDS is creeping its way to the top of the "quickest growing in occurrence" list. It is one of the hardest diseases to diagnose for Doctors and Pathologists. More and more families are becoming aware of MDS because people they love are being diagnosed with it every day. MDS affects 300,000 people worldwide killing 60,000 to 70,000 a year
It is your typical "Gray Area" disease, because very few research dollars have been allocated to finding exact causes and treatments. This has resulted in

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