Fanconi Anemia
in Centrifugal Force by Lisa Lickel
I love odd medical conditions and
researching them. I was a big fan of human anomalies before the 1990s and 2000s
television shows X Files and House, MD. Truth is generally more bizarre than
fiction. But for that reason, we authors must remain in the realm of reasonable
disbelief so our readers can submerse themselves in our worlds.
In Centrifugal Force, Gervas
Friedemann, our hero, has an ulterior motive for visiting America. He is also
looking for a cure for his daughter’s rare condition, which happens to have a
research study for treatment going on in Madison, Wisconsin. I chose Fanconi
Anemia upon seeking rare conditions which were genetic in nature. I needed
Gervas to hold a lot of guilt on numerous levels. What more horrible feelings
can a parent feel than to know he’s responsible for passing on broken genes?
I was also exploring reasons for
blackmail while developing the story. For German Jews, hiding out during the
holocaust must have meant a deep betrayal of faith and country. I wondered if I
could somehow make a hidden Jewish ancestry part of Gervas’s make up, but once
I decided to blackmail the Friedemanns over a different reason, I no longer
needed to work on that aspect of the condition, though I was fascinated to
learn that Fanconi Anemia can occur more often in those with Jewish ancestry.
For Gervas, the secret to his
daughter’s treatment lies under his nose, but comes at a terrible cost.
Fanconi Anemia is a rare genetic
disorder which is inherited from two parents who carry the recessive, defective
gene. The condition can affect many of the body’s systems and can lead to
cancer like leukemia.
As probably expected of an anemic
disease, FA generally leads to bone marrow failure. It is diagnosed in children
who may be born with birth defects such as abnormalities in thumbs and toes,
misshapen eyes and ears, or internal kidney and/or heart conditions. Life
expectancy is significantly reduced. Women can have delayed menstruation or
underdeveloped sex organs which can cause difficulty in pregnancy similarly,
men are less developed and often less fertile. Parents may not know they carry
FA genes or have the disease to pass it on.
Genetic testing can be done in utero
or after a child is born if FA is suspected, even if the child is born without
birth defects. In such cases, bone marrow failure, which leads to easy bruising
externally and internally, and petechiae among other symptoms, usually occurs before
the age of ten, Successful treatment includes bone marrow transplant.
Some of the sites I used for
research include Fanconi.org, National Institutes of Health, and Clinical Trials.
