[ccnarayanan]

The first thing you can potentially do is to take a deep breath and educate yourself with the enormous amount of online literature available around MDS. Just give a Google search and you can really get hooked into it. But bear in mind to capture the relevant and credible information from the massive wealth of information available online.

Now, to answer your questions:

MDS is a family of diseases of the bone marrow resulting in inadequate and inefficient production of various blood cells from the bone marrow - red blood cells to carry oxygen to various organs, white blood cells to combat disease-causing germs, and platelets to help clot the blood when there is bleeding. The problems in these types of blood cells can be present in isolation or in combination. MDS can be fairly benign or serious depending on the kind of abnormalities which exist in the bone marrow. Some MDS patients may not notice any issues and live for several years whereas some others are high-risk whose life span can be limited even with medical intervention. So you would really need to find out the details of abnormalities which exist in the bone marrow. Please go through the doctor's reports and read from online what tests need to be done to properly diagnose MDS, its subtype, and prognosis. MDS is a disease which can be fairly managed with timely and appropriate medical intervention.

There is no evidence that MDS is hereditary although the severity of MDS is often linked to the chromosome abnormalities of the patient. Nobody clearly knows what causes MDS although some people have attributed lifestyle factors and exposure to benzene.

There is no clear evidence that MDS is contagious. In fact, people around can pass on infection to the MDS patient, particularly if the patient has problems with white blood cells.

Not sure about Vanderbilt or other hospital - you have not mentioned which city or country you live. Regardless of your location, take a look at Dr. Azra Raza's online videos / articles to get a first level perspective.