By Ayelet K.

I thank G-d I don’t have a crazy health story from my childhood. In fact, no doctor or family member ever suspected that anything was different about my health than any of my siblings or friends. However, I bruised easily and had many nosebleeds. Actually, I became knowledgeable early in my childhood on the tips and tricks to stopping nosebleeds.

Fast forward to when I was 21 years old. In preparation for dating, I had done some genetic testing but that testing did not show any signs of having a genetic disease. I had never heard of JScreen until I went out with the first person I dated. Both the man I was dating and I decided after a couple of dates that I would do JScreen, to decide if we would continue dating. By the time I received the results we were not dating any more. At that point I had a phone conference with a genetic counselor from JScreen and I realized that taking the step to do additional genetic testing through JScreen saved my life. The genetic counselor told me that I have two Gaucher disease mutations, so I’m not just a carrier but actually have Gaucher disease. That explained my easy bruising and nosebleeds, and warned me of other problems that may surface. I believe everything we do in life is for a purpose and in this case, G-d has made this very clear to me. I felt that through every step of my dating process G-d held my hand, till I ultimately found my husband. G-d, through his emissary, JScreen made sure that I was taken care of. By the time I met my husband I was already being treated for Gaucher’s disease for almost a year. Seeing the success of my treatments, my husband and I felt confident to start a family.

As I mentioned, G-d took care of me and found me a husband who is understanding, caring and isn’t bothered by my “rare” disease. After a few dates I built up the courage to speak to my husband about my disease and the treatments I receive twice a month. I thought my husband might be turned off from continuing to go out with me but on the contrary our relationship only grew stronger and my husband truly appreciated my sincerity. I will mention that it was a bit of a hurdle for me to reveal my disease to my husband since someone else had previously ended a relationship due to my Gaucher disease. What I want people to know is to be honest and open with whoever they go out with and the right person will appreciate you for who you are. I also want others to know that Gaucher disease is not deadly and thank God there are treatments for it! I am so thankful to JScreen for literally saving my life!