Purple spots

Hello. My 3 year old daughter was diagnosed with ITP about 1 1/2 months ago (her count was 14,000). When we were at the hosipital as well as many bruises she had a red rash on both shoulders about 1 inch long. The doctor said that this is where she has carried a ruck sack on her shoulders. At the moment although she has lots of bruises, there are a lot less than normal, but, all over her front and back and arround her neck there are little purple spots under the skin, just single ones, but some of them about 3mm wide as well as the red rash in clumps here and there in quite big areas. Should I be concerned about this or is this just normal?

I am sorry to hear about what is going on. At this point, 1-1/2 months into it, ITP would be considered acute (they do not consider it chronic for 6-months to a year (depending on what doctor you talk with). The bruising, etc is normal with low platelets so at this point it would seem that managing those platelets (especially if you experience bleeding) is priority number one. With any luck, it will all get taken care of and go away soon. Regardless of the length of time, it is scary and frustrating. I am glad you found this group as it is critical to get that peer support as you are navigating through it. As you are coming across anything new, treatments, questions or just want to "talk", do not hesitate to hit this site. We are all in the same frustrating and confusing boat and can definitely help you. Keep in mind that all kids are different and everyone reacts differently to treatments. So, if someone is sharing their experience, it is not a for sure that you will go through the same thing. Another words, take some of this with a grain of salt.

Please continue to let the people on this know that they can do to help.

Stay well,

JJ

Thank you for your reply. I suppose I'm not questioning whether it is acute or chronic (although it has definently been going on for at least 2 years). I'm just wondering whether I should contact the hospital as there is a sudden change as she has only had the odd purple spot before, now she is covered in them. Or, is this just normal and I don't need to do anything?

Grasshopper:

The purple spots are called 'petechiae' and that is s normal symptom for ITP when counts are down.

It is pretty much normal to get petechiae and bruising when counts are low, when you notice them, you might want to just watch her a little more careful and maybe restrict certain activies that may put her at risk of internal bleeding (playing on playground equipment where she could fall and bump her herself or her head) things like that. I don't want to scare you, but when counts are especially low say under 10 there is a lot more danger when they fall and hit their heads etc. I used to go in and get a blood test to check my counts when i got lots of perechiae and bruising, so if your worried, you could always get a count done if you think they may be low.