ITP Matters
It’s bigger than you think
ITP is a blood disorder that affects the platelets in a person’s blood. The blood is a person’s main life source; therefore it affects not only the blood but the mind, body and soul. ITP’ers wake up daily praying that this day may be pain free.
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About Our Foundation
Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP)
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a bleeding disorder in which the immune system destroys platelets, which are necessary for normal blood clotting. People with the disease have too few platelets in the blood. ITP is sometimes called immune thrombocytopenic purpura or simply, immune thrombocytopenia.
Causes
ITP occurs when certain immune system cells produce antibodies against platelets. Platelets help your blood clot by clumping together to plug small holes in damaged blood vessels. The antibodies attach to the platelets. The body destroys the platelets that carry the antibodies. In children, the disease sometimes follows a viral infection. In adults, it is more often a long-term
(chronic) disease and can occur after a viral infection, with use of certain drugs, during pregnancy, or as part of an immune disorder. ITP affects women more often than men. It is more common in children than adults. In children, the disease affects boys and girls equally.
symptoms
ITP symptoms can include any of the following:
– Abnormally heavy periods in women
– Bleeding into the skin, often around the shins, causing a skin rash that looks like pinpoint red
spots (petechial rash)
– Easy bruising
– Nosebleed or bleeding in the mouth
Exams and Tests
Blood tests will be done to check your platelet count. A bone marrow aspiration or biopsy may also be done.
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Go to the emergency room or call the local emergency number (such as 911) if severe bleeding occurs, or if other new symptoms develop.
Treatment
In children, the disease usually goes away without treatment. Some children may need treatment. Adults are usually started on a steroid medicine called prednisone. In some cases, surgery to
remove the spleen (splenectomy) is recommended. This increases the platelet count in about half of people. However, other drug treatments are usually recommended instead. If the disease does not get better with prednisone, other treatments may include:
– Medicine called danazol (Danocrine) taken by mouth
– Infusions of high-dose gamma globulin (an immune factor)
– Drugs that suppress the immune system
– Anti-RhD therapy for people with certain blood types
– Drugs that stimulate the bone marrow to make more platelets
People with ITP should not take aspirin, ibuprofen, or warfarin, because these drugs interfere with platelet function or blood clotting, and bleeding may occur.
Outlook (Prognosis)
With treatment, the chance of remission (a symptom-free period) is good. In rare cases, ITP may become a long-term condition in adults and reappear, even after a symptom-free period.
Possible Complications
Sudden and severe loss of blood from the digestive tract may occur. Bleeding into the brain may also occur.
Alternative Names
Immune thrombocytopenic purpura; ITP; Immune thrombocytopenia; Bleeding disorder –
idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura; Bleeding disorder – ITP; Autoimmune – ITP; Low platelet
count – ITP
Jonathan’s Story
Growing up, I was around a lot of people who had stories about what brought them to religion. I remember asking my mom about their stories and why I didn’t have one of my own. Having been raised in a church family, it was all I had ever known. Mom looked at me and said, “Why don’t you ask God?”
Matthew 7:7 states, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. I asked and received in ways my young mind could not have foreseen. In third grade, my school’s principal, and my mother both noticed I had many more bruises than I boy my age should. God was with me the day we went to the first doctor’s visit as I was scheduled to have teeth removed later that week. Had I not gone to the doctors before the dentist, I could have bled out and no one would have known why. That was when I was first diagnosed with ITP.
Having a rare blood disorder during the height of the AIDS epidemic, I was often isolated from other children my age. I remember watching other kids sledding and know that I couldn’t do it because of my illness. Not just because I could seriously hurt myself but also because some parents weren’t comfortable with their children playing with me. Kids with illnesses are resilient to many things, but the isolation takes its toll.
When I was 10, ITP went into remission and I became a “regular” teenager and found myself in scarps where if it hadn’t been in remission, I would have been in real trouble. Around 23, I felt that something was off and mentioned it to my doctors and mother, but everything still looked okay. Until I swiped my eye one day and a black eye formed. ITP had returned.
I took this opportunity to strengthen my relationship with God, knowing he was giving me a story to share, and started to attend Global Awakening to become trained in healing ministry. My training took me to the streets of Baltimore, Madison Wisconsin, and many more places to teach the word of God and to offer healing for those in need.
But God was not finished with me yet. When I was 29, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Stage 4 cancer is no joke, but for someone who also has ITP, it was serious, and I was given a 1% chance of survival. Cancer by far has been the most difficult thing I have had to overcome. I struggle with the loneliness, the guilt, and the toll it has taken on my mental health.
Through this, my relationship with God is stronger than ever. I may not always be happy about what I’m going through, I know I’m straight with the Lord. You gotta have faith. It’ll pull you out of anything. That’s why when something doesn’t go my way, I like to say, “Oh well. One of these days.” Because it might not be today or tomorrow, but I still have hope and that’s what’s important.
My hope is that through my experiences, others can find themselves if they are feeling alone. Illness and isolation often go hand in hand, but they don’t have to. One of these days, I believe it will be better.