Daniel has ITP and last week his blood platelet count dropped again. He was getting tiny red spots on his ankles again. His test came back at 10,000(a normal count is about 150,000 to 450,000) then last Friday it was 14,000 and today it is 79,000. This is the third time it has dropped. The second time it dropped to 8,000. The first was the worst at 1,000 and he was rushed to Kosairs in the ambulance and he had to receive a treatment which causes painful reactions. His pediatric hematologist said the reactions will worsen with each additional treatment. So we always wait and pray that his numbers increase. When his numbers are low he can do no physical activity for fear he will bleed internally. In other words, he is bleeding internally because his blood will not clot. He can not brush his teeth as normal when it is very low. Nose bleeding and gum bleeding are major concerns. We hope and pray it goes remission forever. I would give anything to take this condition from him.

What Is Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura?

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a bleeding condition in which the blood doesn’t clot as it should. This is due to a low number of blood cells called platelets (PLATE-lets).

Platelets are also called thrombocytes (THROM-bo-sites), and they’re made in your bone marrow (along with other kinds of blood cells). Platelets circulate through the blood vessels and help stop bleeding by sticking together (clotting) to seal small cuts or breaks.

Idiopathic (id-ee-o-PATH-ick) means that the cause of the disease or condition isn’t known. Thrombocytopenic (throm-bo-cy-toe-PEE-nick) means there is a lower-than-normal number of platelets in the blood. Purpura (PURR-purr-ah) are purple bruises caused by bleeding under the skin. More extensive bleeding can create a three-dimensional mass called a hematoma (he-ma-TO-ma).