MarrowkidzInformation and advice for children affected by aplastic anaemia Welcome to MarrowKidz from The Aplastic Anaemia Trust. Here you can find resources for children affected by aplastic anaemia. Whether you have been diagnosed with aplastic anaemia yourself, or someone in your family or a friend has been diagnosed, this is where you'll find expert information about what's happening, and advice from other children who have been through aplastic anaemia too! A note for adults and teens: We've moved some things around! You'll now find treatment information, resources for parents, schools and teenagers on our main website. Marrowkidz About your AA and treatment Advice from other children Support a friend or family member Watch videos More goodies Bone marrow biopsy What is a bone marrow biopsy? Your bone marrow is the spongy part inside your big bones. It works like a factory and it’s where your stem cells are made. These stem cells will develop into different blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. If you’ve got aplastic anaemia, your bone marrow will not have as many blood cells as it should have. The only way for doctors to know for sure that this is because of aplastic anaemia is by looking at some of your bone marrow under a microscope.For them to be able to take some bone marrow to look at, you will need to have something called a biopsy. This is where your doctors will use a syringe to take out some of your bone marrow. Don’t worry: the doctor will only take a tiny bit, and you won’t feel anything while they are doing it. Is a biopsy safe? A biopsy is a quick, safe thing to have, which will help the doctors decide what to do to make you feel better. What will happen when I have a biopsy? Your biopsy will take place in a hospital or a clinic. You should be able to go home on the same day or maybe the next day. Usually, you’ll be able to go home soon after the transfusion has finished. When you get home At home, you must wear the bandage and try to keep the area dry for a day. This means no baths, showers or swimming. Try not to move around too much, just for a day or two, to stop yourself feeling sore or starting to bleed. If you feel achy or sore, you can ask your parents or carers for some medicine to help with pain. If you notice any bleeding that doesn’t stop or if anything else feels funny, tell your parents or carers and they can decide whether to get in touch with your doctor. What happens next? The bone marrow sample will be sent to a laboratory to be looked at, and this can help your doctor to work out whether you have aplastic anaemia. If you do have it, then it will help the doctors to decide which treatment will help make you better. We know that having aplastic anaemia can be difficult. If you feel worried while you wait for the results, always tell a grown-up. It will help to talk about how you’re feeling. Your family, your brother, your sister, your friends and your doctors are all here to help you as much as they can. Ask Erica In this video, Erica talks about what it was like when she had a bone marrow biopsy: Would you like this as a book? You can also order this information as a free printed booklet, or ask a parent to order one for you here: Order one now Manage Cookie Preferences