Confusion over petechiae and count...

It has been 4 years since my son had ITP. He was 18mo old and got down to a count of 2,000. He had one round of IVIG and then his count rebounded over the next 7-9 months until finally he reached normal range and stayed there.

He is now 6 and hasn't had a problem since, well until now.

I noticed while we were eating dinner that he had petechiae on his face. Upon closer inspection I found he had it on his neck, arm, and a large area on his back. I immediately had flashbacks.

Not wanting to take any chances because I know from his first battle how quickly his count can drop I called the doc.

Doc agreed a CBC needed to be done.

The CBC came back with a count of 276,000. Ooookay. Not that I wasn't happy it was in normal range but I'm thinking, "well what is going on"?!

Today, new areas of petechiae and some small fingertip size bruises (same as the first time).

He's not covered like his was when his counts were really low but it seems to be progressing.

Is there another reason for all of this? Should I ask for another count or wait?

It has been over 3 years since I've worried like this, I don't want to be paranoid but I don't want to let it go if there is reason for concern.

Just keep an eye on him. Tim does this while he's in remission. The theory is that he has dips in his counts and then recovers quickly. Also, people with ITP, even when in remission, have dysfunctional platelets, so even if they have a normal count they get bruises, etc because the platelets don't work properly.

lucidawn wrote:

Just keep an eye on him. Tim does this while he's in remission. The theory is that he has dips in his counts and then recovers quickly. Also, people with ITP, even when in remission, have dysfunctional platelets, so even if they have a normal count they get bruises, etc because the platelets don't work properly.

Thank you, I'm just a little on edge because it has been over 3 years since he got into normal platelet range and he's never had petechiae like this.

He also got a nosebleed while sleeping last night. It has been very humid here so I don't think it was that the air was too dry. I'm watching him though if things seem to get worse I'll ask for another count to be on the safe side.

He is starting football next week so that was another reason to make sure his platelets were good. It's flag football because he is only 6 but still.