Military is looking at Separation, due to ITP...

:dry:
I am 29 female and was tested randomly by my Doc because she thought I was healthy and wanted a baseline to go off of when I got older. Turns out was at 45000. I did feel tired a lot and bruised pretty easy but didn't think anything of it, I am a diesel mechanic and work out a lot so I figured it came with the territory. I am going on two years of getting tested every other month and I have went up to 82000 for the most part. It has been a crazy rollercoaster and very stressful having my career put on hold to see if I can stay in. I am not sure right now what is going to happen, but they won't let me deploy anymore and I am stuck on limited duty mostly at a desk. As a very driven individual who absolutely loves what I do this is very hard for me. My Hematologist said that I will be med. boarded for Medical Seperation out this year most likely and sadly it came as a relief, because my emotions had been messed with for the past two years with no definitive answer. The relief was short lived because he called to tell me I broke 100,000! But i have a sinking feeling that that means another year of testing and more waiting and the possibility of separation. I know little about leaving the military because of medical issues and was wondering if anyone could help me out. My career is being put on hold and suffering if I can't deploy. I worry that I am going to be out of a job. I guess it frustrates me because I don't feel like there is anything wrong with me. I haven't tried any treatments mostly because the Dr. said that they weren't a guarantee and would probably do more harm that good, and my numbers aren't that bad (just not good enough to stay in) If anyone can give me advice I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you.

That's quite a predicament. It must be hard for you. I can't advise you on the military end, but I can advise you a bit on the ITP end.

You have two choices. Just keep going with no treatment and continue on this path. You know how it will end (job-wise).

Or, push to try treatment. Treatments have side effects and you might have to try several until you find one that will work. That can take time. The problem is that you have no idea how long the counts would hold, so being deployed might be a problem if counts drop suddenly. With this latest count, it would be nearly impossible to find a doctor who would treat that, so right now you're sort of stuck unless counts drop to 30k or lower.

A situation like yours is one of the hardest to deal with when ITP is involved. There are no clear answers. I hope you find an alternative solution that you can live with.

I do know a woman who was separated from the Navy for medical reasons, but not ITP. Her work as a nuclear technician has led to some good opportunities in the civilian sector but the unexpected transition was difficult. Is your current hematologist well-informed about ITP and the various ways of trying to boost platelet counts? Perhaps a short course of a low dose of a suitable medication would keep you above 100k without too many side effects. Or perhaps there is a more knowledgable hematologist you can see, maybe even an outside specialist given that ITP is rare.

The American Society of Hematology revised the diagnostic criteria and management plans for ITP a couple of years ago but some hematologists and other docs may not be current on that. Perhaps some research on the ASH web site ( hematology.org ) will produce useful materials to bring to the attention of your treatment team.

As Sandi said, your numbers are well above the standard threshold for treatment (my counts are generally just above 100k and none of my docs has ever suggested treatment at that level). I hope you can find a path forward that reduces the uncertainty of your situation.

I will be seeing him again this month hopefully get a better idea of what to expect and plan for, thank you for the help! You have given me some good things to look into and questions I need to ask my Dr. I definitely appreciate it!