Hi,
I have only posted here a few times and it's been a long time since I've been here. A little background on me . . . I was dx with ITP on March 3, 2012. After "failing" the first round courses of treatments - prednisone, IVIG, my drs decided to do a splenectomy on April 6, 2012 to get my platelet count up. My counts were only 1,000 when I was admitted to the hospital a few days before the splenectomy. The splenectomy didn't work right away. In fact, I almost died because my platelet counts did not go up the way the surgeon and hemat drs anticipated and I continued to bleed internally after the surgery. I lost over 2.5 litres of blood and spent 7 days in ICU. Finally, after 4 rounds of Rituxan and 9 or 10 doses of Nplate, my platelet counts began to climb and are currently 429,000. My last dose of Nplate was July 2, 2012 and I have been off Prednisone since July as well.
I had to have am emergency appendectomy on November 24th. I came through the surgery with no problems at all. A week later I began having gallbladder attacks and had my gallbladder removed on February 18, 2013. My gallbladder was essentially "dead" and full of stones. My wife and I think it's an odd "coincidence" that after being dx with ITP, having my spleen removed and being treated with all of the various medications (I also received a dose of Vincristine(sp?) during my 20 day hospital stay) that I have also needed the appendix and gallbladder surgeries. Maybe there is no connection, but prior to my dx with ITP, I rarely had any medical issues.
Right after my appendectomy, I noticed that my Lymphocytes were high. My WBC has been in the higher range (sometimes as high as 16) since my splenectomy which I understand is not unusual, but my Lymphocytes have always been in the normal range until recently. My WBC dropped down to 7 right before my gallbladder surgery and then went to 9 and is now 11.77. I also found a lump in my back on my right side just above my kidney. I saw my hematologist last week and he felt the lump. We talked about my high lymphocytes but he said he is not worried and that we would watch and see what happens. He tends to "blame" everything on my splenectomy. In most situations I agree with him, but this has me more than a little worried.
I'm sorry to be so lengthy and wordy but I believe that more information is better than not enough. I'm hoping someone who's gone through a similar situation or is currently going through something similar, can shed some light on what I am going through.
Thanks in advance.
Tim
