7.28.2012

Danger Zone

Well, as it turns out, my blood is still a bit "unique."  I ran out of lil' platelets yesterday and had to have my first IVIG infusion in over a year.

As a quick refresher: I have ITP (immune thrombocytopenic purpura), and platelets are the part of the blood that helps it stick together.  ITP is an autoimmune disorder where my body basically eats/destroys its own platelets for no reason.  There is no rhyme or reason to this condition; it just happens to random people.

The good part of it (if there is a good part), is that a person with ITP doesn't have many physical symptoms other than bruising.  I never feel sick.  It's just dangerous because if you don't have platelets, a person could get a cut and it won't stop bleeding - or you can start bleeding on the inside of your body and not know it.

Throughout the past year, I've continued having blood tests, and I have them more regularly when my count gets lower.  But I don't need treatments until my platelet count gets under 20,000 which is considered the "danger zone." (I dare you to click that link.)

Yesterday my count was at 9,000 and normal is 150,000 to 400,000.  So it was time for a treatment.

I'm hopeful this infusion will do the trick and maybe I won't need one again for a long, long time.  But even if it's back to monthly treatments for awhile, it isn't the worst thing in the world.

At least I feel totally healthy and normal, and I'm thankful for that.

The whole process took about 6 hours.  Thank you, friends & family - for the support and encouragement (visits, calls, texts, tweets, and emails).

This all began just about 2 years ago.  Time flies.  I'm not going to over-analyze this too much.  Instead, I will just be praying this was a momentary blip on the radar.

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2 comments:

  1. Gelato, Olympics opening ceremonies on TV and good company should give you a good start. Lots of prayers for this being just a one-time stop.

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  2. Em, prayers for healing coming your way. Between family, friends, and the guy above, you have the absolute BEST support team! We all seem to have "something" to keep us humble, don't we? Still had energy to make a "funny face" ... cracks me up. Hang in there!

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