Back to Life and ITP

WARNING: This post ended up being longer than I originally planned. And this is not a post for those sensitive to medical subjects ... eh hem ... Yaya.

I am gonna take a break from wedding posts for a second. I know. I know. You're a little surprised. But really, my life doesn't just revolve entirely around that.

My life now consists of getting back into a routine. My new routine. It's been a little challenging though. I had a bit of a medical scare the week after we got back from out Honeymoon. Talk about timing.

In junior high and high school I dealt with an auto immune disease called ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura if you wanna get technical). In essence it is a low platelet count and they don't know what causes it. As a result I would bruise a lot. It's just something that thankfully I was able to go about my normal life and not have it affect me too much. Eventually my platelet levels plateaued at a safe range (what I call my normal) and I eventually lost contact with my doctor/specialist in Washington.

The weeks leading up to the wedding I noticed bruises pop up on my body and not know where they came from. Not having time to worry about it I just brushed it off. I was also beyond EXHAUSTED! But I just attributed it to stress and my busy life. I also kept getting nose bleeds that I couldn't stop either. Living in the high altitude and desert, though, it's nothing too out of the ordinary. At least for me. I was just so busy I didn't really think much of it.

On our honeymoon I knew something was wrong when I went to take off my sandals to walk on the beach and there was a bruise on the top of my foot that was the size of the circumference of a tennis ball. I mean anyone would remember dropping something on the top of their foot. After we got back from California I kept feeling that something wasn't right. A huge bruise showed up on my forearm and it finally scared me enough to do something about it.

After work on Tuesday I finally drug myself into the urgent care to get my blood drawn. Sure enough. My platelets were dangerously low! Like 18,000 low. I don't remember them ever being that low. The urgent care doctor made some phone calls and got me in contact with a hematologist and made an appointment with me for the next morning. They told me to go home and not to anything!

I went to the doctor the next morning. She drew some blood and my platelets were even lower! They were 8,000. I got pretty scared at that point. I knew I was pretty much a walking disaster and she was ready to admit me to the hospital right then and there. She immediately put me on an IV (IVIG). I sat there the entire afternoon. At that point I still didn't know if they were going to keep me overnight. Thankfully my levels went up a little and they let me go for the evening, but I had to go back for two more days worth of the IV. Before I left that night the doctor gave me strict instructions, "Do not get in a car accident and do not do anything stupid!"

 My awesome view for 3 afternoons. 

Excuse me doctor can I get this in my IV instead? ... Jokes.

It was pretty boring getting the IV. I slept a lot, read magazines and played on my iPhone. By Friday afternoon my platelets were back to my normal range (85,000) and by Monday they were back into a normal person's range! And still are!!!! What a difference it has made though. It seems like overnight I have had so much more energy than I can remember having in a long time!

I am still being watched closely by my doctor, but I am grateful to be in good hands.

Speaking of good hands...

 Walk of Fame on our Honeymoon.

I just love this boy! I can't tell you enough how good Scotty has been through this whole thing. To me this situation is second nature. He knew about my ITP before we got married, but this is the first time he has had to go through this with me. He is so good to me and has taken this situation in stride.

I am hoping now that my platelets are under control I can finally focus on real life ... start running again and getting caught up on Khloe and Lamar (priorities people).