Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Look ma, I learned me some big words! Ha, just kidding. No, I am not just throwing big words out there for the fun of it. Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, more commonly referred to as ITP, is actually a disease. A disease that I have recently been diagnosed with. Now, don't you worry, I am ok and I am going to be okay, it's just something I have to monitor and live with for the rest of my life, but honestly, I am okay. Here's the scoop.

About a year ago I went in for an annual check up with a new doctor, due to the move to California. As my new primary physician, my doc decided to check out everything. The results of my blood work showed that I had a low platelet count. In short, platelets are responsible for helping blood to clot. The fact that I have a low platelet count means that my blood, should I begin to bleed, would not clot and therefore it would be difficult to stop the bleeding and/or I could be bleeding internally and not know it. When my results came back, my doctor was somewhat confused. Typically if a person has a low platelet count they also have another irregular number, i.e., a low white blood cell count combined with a low platelet count is typical of leukemia. I didn't have any other irregularities so my doctor referred me to a hematologist - a blood specialist. Just so you know, a normal person has a platelet count somewhere between 150,000 and 450,000 (pretty big range if you ask me), and my platelet count seems to be hovering somewhere between 40,000 to 60,000.

I have now been working with a hematologist for about 6 months. I have been checking my blood count regularly, weekly, and have absolutely ruled out anything and everything that this disease could be - so the good news is that I don't have cancer, leukemia, hepatitis nor a slew of other horrible diseases. So, yah for that! ITP is my diagnosis. As a treatment, I was put on prednisone, which is a form of a corticosteroid. Typically, while on that medication, a person's blood count shoots up quite a bit. Mine did nothing - but I did suffer the side effects of being on that medication: weight gain, puffy face, not being able to sleep, headaches, sore joints...and the list goes on.

For those of you that do not know, the I in ITP - idiopathic - means "of no known cause." In other words, they, meaning the "medical world," know what is going on (I have a low number of platelets) but they do not know why. They can only try to figure out what is making my platelet count low, but they will never know why. To do so, they to try and determine if A) my body is not making enough platelets, or if B) my body is making enough platelets but something in my body is attacking them - typically antibodies (are you starting to feel like you are in a science class again?). In order to determine if either A or B is the case for me it is recommended that I get a bone marrow examination - which I hear is quite painful and yucky all around. I will keep you posted on those results.

I apologize for all of the fancy words and the overall long story. This is something I have been meaning to share for quite some time, but was kind of hoping it would all just go away. There truly is not a cure for ITP, all one can do is monitor their platelet count numbers - which involves going to the lab on a weekly basis to get blood drawn - and try to find a medication that will increase your count should it fall to a life threatening level, under 20,000. It is frustrating and definitely a change for me - I have been healthy as a horse since the day I was born. But, I know that I am beyond thankful to have my husband by my side each and every step of the way through these new changes during my Life As A Wife.