Hello!

Hello Everyone,

My name is Chrissy and I am a mom to a 10 year old son who was diagnosed with ITP in July of 2011. I had been questioning his bruises for months but all I got was the "he's just a boy" speech. Finally in July of 2011 I took him in for his football physical and the doctor there did blood work only to find he had 1,500 platelets left. They say it's a miracle he is even alive considering he had been in football conditioning for two weeks before. Since then he has had 8 IVIG infusions with number 9 coming this week. We had a bone marrow biopsy last month since he has been dealing with this for a year, and everything came back clean and we know for sure this is ITP that we are dealing with. In May I organized a blood drive with our local blood bank and we were able to collect 124 units of blood which was awesome!

I've been on the PDSA website before but never seen the boards, wearing my purple bracelet now . Just looking to hear your stories, what you have tried, and hopefully some successes! Sometimes I feel beat down by running to the doctor each week, worrying every time he is playing baseball or just being a kid. I know it could always be worse but right now this is my worse. He is so upbeat and his positive attitude makes him my hero! Who knew a 10 year old boy could teach his mom so much!

My son, who just turned 5, was dx in January 2012. He has had 7 ivig treatments,and I'm sure number 8 is near.

I was glad to find this board, its nice to know we (and our children) aren't alone!

Hi Chrissy,

It's always so helpful to hear another story. Though I hate hearing about other children dealing with this issue... this site has been a wonderful go to! My son was diagnosed in February just prior to his 7th birthday. We haven't been to the critically low levels so many of you here have been to but ITP has been life altering nonetheless. Like you, my son has taught me many things in recent months. He is SO very brave. We've had some 15-20 blood draws since diagnosis and he has never complained. He's had to quit playing football which has been very difficult for him but it's turned his attention towards swimming and track. The Olympics came at a wonderful time for him because I would say.. "Hey look at all these sports you can do that are non contact that you can try."

Our first hematologist instantly starting talking bone marrow biopsy but we took the "Keep calm and wait" approach. We're getting a second opinion in October. That will be the 8 month point.

It's so hard not to see the bruised legs and want to slip him to the Dr. for a count but I've decided it'll only confirm what I know. No sense in sticking him when he's otherwise asymptomatic (no bleeding).

I hope your son's counts stay up and that he remains positive! Hang in there!