ITP

Guess who has it?

Guess what it stands for? Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (sounds made up, huh?) 

Guess what it is? Low platelet count for an unknown reason (could be caused from Collier's vaccines that he got on March 28 or triggered from a virus or for no reason at all)

The story... On Tuesday, April 2 I noticed red "pin pricked" dots and bruises on Collier's bottom. I showed Patrick, thought "what in the world?" and slapped some diaper rash cream on it. It cleared up in a couple of days. Then, on Saturday, April 6 these pin pricked dots showed up all over Collier's left arm. Both days, Tuesday and Saturday, I had put Collier in a Baby Bjorn... Could it be cutting off his circulation? My google research of "broken blood vessels on baby" turned up the term "petechiae", which I diagnosed as what Collier actually had. Rather than the heat rash I was hoping for, petechiae is actually bleeding underneath the skin. Along with petichiae came a whole slew of diagnosis that were bad... Real bad.

I took Collier in for his "rash" Monday morning. The first thing the PA said was "Oh, this is the one rash we do not like to see in babies.". Strep and mono came back negative. (I was secretly praying for one of these, as I would have gladly taken it over any other possibility). As we walked out of the doctors office the PA said, "Just don't google this." That damage had already been done, lady. We went home and waited for Collier's blood test results. Our pediatrician, not his PA that we had seen, called around 5pm and said that Collier's blood count was normal, a good sign, but that his platelet count was low. He then put me on hold and I heard, "No, she doesn't have to go tonight. I'll let her take him in the morning.". When he came back he said, "Jennifer, if you see any nose bleeds, bleeding from the gums, blood in the stool... you take him straight to the ER, ok?". Gotcha, doc. He told me we were being referred to a hematologist and to expect a call first thing on Tuesday telling us where and when.

Tuesday morning... Children's Medical Hospital calls and we are expected at 11:15am for check-in. Blood test taken, more waiting, and finally the results. White blood count looks good (means no cancer!), liver and spleen are not enlarged, lymph nodes look good, Collier has ran no fever, has continued to eat normally, and, in general, looks like a healthy baby... All really good signs. The one negative... His platelet count was 15,000 on Monday and 10,000 on Tuesday...normal is 150,000. Diagnosis is probable ITP. While the numbers are low, his blood smear showed some platelets are normal size and some are enlarged. So, we are taking a wait and watch approach rather than jumping straight to steroids. We'll be back Monday for another platelet count and again the following Tuesday and will go from there. ITP could last anywhere from 3-6 months, or could last longer.

Things to pray for... (1) That his platelet count goes up on their own (meaning that his bone marrow does it's job and produces normal sized platelets); (2) that he has no nosebleeds, blistering in the mouth, increased bruising, or blood in his stool or urine (immediate ER trip if any of these occur); (3) that we can contain our three year old and 90lb lab from injuring Collier... We need to be extra vigilant that Collier does not bump his head due to the fear of bleeding in the brain.

Out of all of the diagnosis' it "could have been", I will gladly take this!