I was officially diagnosed with ITP in July 2019 when I freshly turned 18 (this all started when I was 17 in May 2019). Before my diagnoses of ITP, it was the beautiful juggle of "cancer or ITP?" My journey of diagnoses started when I went to the hospital for acute appendicitis and I had to get blood drawn so the doctors could check to see if my white cells were elevated (one of three main indicators of appendicitis). I went into surgery and when I got out the doctors asked if I was ever diagnosed with a blood disorder. I said no and they said "huh... Well, your platelets were low so we may came back for another sample of blood later on." They never came back because it only took one of the three vials of blood to diagnose me with appendicitis.
When I went to my first appointment with my hematologist, I was a bit shaken to be going to the cancer center; my mother was not jazzed about it either. It was there I found out my platelet levels at the time of surgery was 50 and in the span of a week, they dropped to 37. They kept dropping and dropping. I've tried steroids (worked, then it didn't), did a bone marrow biopsy (just to make sure I didn't have cancer/make sure my body was actually making platelets) -- yay, not cancer! I still have a chronic illness, though! I tried rituximab and had an allergic reaction (stalled my platelet at 27, then dragged it down 23), went on to IVIG, another allergic reaction (hated it, made me have a psychological change + allergic reaction of itching/scratchy throat, it took 7 hours for me to complete, but they did sky rocket my levels to 244 -- only for it to plummet to 77 in the span of a week and half :/).
I am now an 18-year-old 1st year college student that goes to the hospital cancer center every week for my infusion treatment, Nplate. I am taking this medication until I can undergo surgery to get my spleen removed in hopes that it will send me off into remission. Nplate is giving me hell with the high dosage and side effects, but it is keeping my levels up in the 140 - 200 range.
As for how long I have had ITP? No clue. I've had chronic nose bleeds since the 4th grade, a ridiculous amount of bruising since 6th grade, and fatigue since 8th, all my symptoms were blamed on puberty, because 30 - 1 hour nose bleeds are a normal part of puberty, right? Regardless, I am still pushing through with college, doctors’ appointments, side effects, and scheduling my splenectomy. I have high hopes for the splenectomy working. It is a different feeling from the IV treatments, steroids, and infusions. Ever since I was told about the splenectomy as a treatment option, I felt "like I need to be prepared to kiss my spleen good-bye;" but at the same time, I don't think that it will raise my platelets above the 100 range, and so far every feeling I've had about my illness and the treatments used have been right, maybe not this time though.
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