my mom

my mom was recently diagnosed with ITP..she also has a mild case of scleroderma..about a year ago she had a double knee replacement...during the surgery she needed more blood than she had donated and was given a transfusion..since the surgery she started getting her aches and pains back so the doctor put her back on prednisone for her scleroderma...she then started noticing bruies all over her body and within the past 4 months she has been diagnosed with ITP she has taken meds by mouth , been infused with immoglobin, recently she has been takeing a chemo drug in addition to heavyduty steriods by mouth... she is ready to explode and her platelet count still continues to drop..she got a chem infusion on friday and monday her count dropped to 11,000 from 21,00 and now they want to try nplate... we are so confused and need advice..any imformation will be grately appreciated..thank you..Janet

Hi Janet - I'm sorry your Mom has scleroderma and now ITP added to the mix.

Do you know what chemo she is having? If it is Rituxan [which I don't know if it is chemo or not] it takes weeks for one to see a rise in counts if it works. At least that is my understanding.

Do go to the top of the page, right above the photos - 3rd from left is a box called Treatments you can click on, go to conventional treatments and read up on what she has had and is having.

I'm going to ask Sandi to move your post into the adult section so more people will see it, since this is now in the children section.