One Year Ago (4/25)...

our lives were changed again. This time it was The Princess' diagnosis with ITP.

The first year with Diabetes seemed to go faster for me than the first year with ITP in our lives. It has been a LONG year of ITP.

You may remember a year ago we were waiting for lab results. We weren't completely sure what we were dealing with or why she was bruising like she was. Then we thought it would be a simple round of steroids, turns out steroids are NOT the first choice of treatment.

The treatment we choose for her comes with some NASTY side effects. We have learned to "beat" the side effects (most of the time)

I learned a lot about ITP in a short amount of time.

We were holding out hope that she would recover and go into remission within the first 6 months. It has been shown that 80% of kids will go into full remission within 6 months of diagnosis. Sadly, this didn't happen. Then we were hoping within 1 year. Well, that hasn't happened either. The Princess has had many IVIG infusions and many, many blood tests to check her counts.

She has also had a bronchoscopy, ear tubes, adenoid removal, and a tonsillectomy in the past year. Each one of these procedures required a platelet check and IVIG for most of them prior to putting her under.

Her platelets have not dropped as low as they did in the beginning, but they never stay up on their own. Her last check was 1 month ago and she was at 150,000. This is good, but they were 250,000 a month prior.

We are going to her hematologist for a check-up tomorrow. If her counts have dropped again, we will be discussing a bone marrow biopsy to rule out any other cause of her low platelets. Since she has had ITP for one year, she is considered to have Chronic ITP at this point, which means it will NEVER go away completely. She may have periods of remission, but may also have periods where her counts drop and she needs treatment.

(I will update after her appointment as to her counts, etc)


I have to say that this diagnosis has changed me and taken over my life more than I thought it would. It has put me in a "rut" if you will, with Diabetes. I can only seem to focus 100% of my attention on one disease and ITP has caused me to lose my Diabetes fighting "mojo". I am working on getting back on track with the D management. I don't want to let this disease to cause The Superhero any complications because I have not focused on him in the last year as much. Time to get out of the funk!


Even with another autoimmune disease in our lives, I am beyond thankful to have my beautiful, happy and healthy Princess in our lives!

Here are some pictures from her ITP journey...

 

  

  

 Keep the prayers coming!



*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child and a child with ITP/Asthma/Sleep Apnea. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*