Living with ITP can be a very lonely experience, many people do not understand it and for the most part the person living with this condition is struggling to understand it himself or herself. Its stupid confusing, amazingly interesting but most of all beyond frustrating to live with.
Here are the realities of ITP which I am sure those living with Immune Thrombocytopenia will be able to relate to at least one of the below;
1. When you first find out about your illness you will nod your head like you understand but in actual fact you have no idea what is going on
2. Team mysterious leg bruise will no longer be a joke but an actual concern
3. Google will be your new found friend because you now need to educate yourself about what Immune Thrombocytopenia is
4. You deeply consider turning into a vegan
5. Your friends and family will look at you blankly when you try to tell them what is wrong
6. You and your doctor will look at each other confused when the conventional treatment didn’t work
7. At one point you won’t feel safe to leave the house
8. Suddenly everyone you know is an expert on your condition and with best intentions will offer you advice on how to cure ITP (please note there is no cure)
9. When people make comments like “can’t be that bad, you don’t look sick” you will feel steam burst from your ears
10. People will judge your husband and think he beats you because you are covered in bruises
11. There will be a lot of No No’s
12. You will panic when you cut yourself and it won’t stop bleeding
13. Sometimes you will think you are “just tired” but in actual fact you are fatigued
14. You will give up alcohol
15. You will need a drink because giving up alcohol didn’t help
16. When your platelets are low that time of the month will look like a crime scene
17. You will start experimenting to try and find a cure
18. You will make many new friends that also share the same condition, these people will become your tribe
19. You will start to take risks
20. You will start to feel like an expert in the field of Immune Thrombocytopenia