Hi @chiplane2 I’d not heard of alpha thalassemia before so I did a little quick research before responding to you. It appears to be an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to have less hemoglobin than normal. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen. Thalassemia can cause anemia, leaving a person fatigued. So that explains why your daughter is so fatigued all the time and why her doctors would like to give her a blood transfusion. It could help her immensely to regain some normalcy to her life.

At this time there are limited treatments for this condition but the predominant treatment is blood transfusions. If there’s an overload of iron in your daughter’s blood, there is chelation therapy which removes excess iron and I’ve read that having the spleen removed may also benefit a patient with this condition. However, a stem cell transplant, (bone marrow transplant) is also one of the treatments available which would potentially allow your daughter to not face a life of blood transfusions.

You certainly do have a lot of unanswered questions. If you’re considering coming back to the states, I’d really suggest having her seen at a larger teaching hospital/clinic such as one of the Mayo campuses or the like. If you’re interested in Mayo, here is a link for you to request an appointment: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

Here are some informational links regarding Alpha Thalassemia
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thalassemia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355001
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https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thalassemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354995?p=1
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https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/alpha-thalassemia/#inheritance
As for changing blood types, no it isn’t possible on its own to have a body change its blood type. However, with a stem cell transplant that is possible. I went through that process and my blood did change from my birth type of B positive to that of my stem cell donor to O positive.

So, I’m not sure what to tell you about your daughter’s blood type except before anyone gives her blood, if she decides to have a transfusion, they’d better make sure every thing is typed and crossed so that she doesn’t have a negative reaction. I’ve had many transfusions while going through my leukemia treatments and the nurses are extremely thorough with making sure everything matches before transfusion. So I really wish your daughter all the best with everything that’s happening.

Testing for blood type isn’t a common procedure unless there’s going to be a transfusion of blood. How did her doctor’s discover her blood type was different?