Is it something you're born with, or did you developed it later on?
And how did you discover it?
Big trigger warning: Hypochondriacs should not read this. Mention of blood, mention of menstruation, mention of leukemia/ cancer. Mention of life-threatening condition. Mention of almost dying.
Okay, I’m trying to keep it short, the story is actually quite long.
Well, I wasn’t born with it.
Doctors cannot say exactly how it has developed, but there is a presumption that fits very well.
In December 2015 I got a very severe flu, high fever etc.
In any case, I went through this flu quite normally and then recovered. However, it took 3 months until the final discovery.
During the flu, I could not walk, my legs were too weak, and when I had to walk, I had to sit down after 3 meters. I had trouble breathing etc.
Then the flu was over and I was fine until it started slowly and the first signs came.
These are, for example, quite normal effects when the thrombocytes are low. Then it started that I got blood bubbles, small bubbles filled with blood all over my mouth.
Small red spots that have stretched over my whole skin are called "petechiae"
These are tiny ruptured veins.
Well, it wasn’t that bad, until I got my period, and from that point on it was really over. Because my period shouldn’t stop again.
And also important: Bruises. I woke up in the morning and then there were bruises all over my body. Really bad looking bruises.
Like somebody hit my leg with a baseball bat.😂
I had my period for two months straight. In the beginning, it was still quite normal, and then when my thrombocytes were really no longer present, it was a lot of blood that was really not normal. 😅
At that point, we assumed it was because of my hormones. So we went to a gynecologist and he prescribed me the birth control pill.
Well, at some point it was so strong that I bled like I had a big open wound.
And then it started again that I became too weak. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t move, I had trouble breathing and all that.
I was really sick, pale. My body had run out of strength, I was out of school for over three weeks, and then we went to the doctor.
That was on a Thursday in March, and I will never forget that. You know, my disease has the same symptoms as leukemia, so blood cancer.
Well, from the moment I went to the doctor, I had a suspicion of leukemia for five days.
I had blood tests, I was examined, and so on.
The results ofblood sampling usually took at least two days, only then are they there, but not with me. Now we get to the point why I can remember it was on a Thursday. Because already in the afternoon we received a call from my doctor personally, not from the secretaries, but from him.
He said my mother had to come back IMMEDIATELY, I should stay at home, which was bad, of course, but good.
Well, my doctor had never seen such bad blood tests as mine, I really had almost nothing healthy left.😅😂
And then came what no one expected. Because he ordered me to go to a clinic two hours away from my home. Because only there were specialists for it.
And since they don’t accept new patients on the weekend, I had to go there the very next day, on Friday.
When I got there, I was immediately examined. The first thing that was found was that if I had come a day later, I might not have lived anymore. Because my blood loss was so high that I had to get two liters of new blood.
And from that moment on, I was examined on an hourly basis. I even had to sit in a wheelchair because the doctors were so afraid that I would get hurt.
I got temporary medication. I got the blood, which I had received again, stolen againbecause I had to go to the blood sample so often.
Then this disease was actually diagnosed. And for the next two years, I always had to go to the hospital regularly to get an examination.
And only after 5 days the three doctors could tell me that I have no leukemia. Fun Fake: The tip that I might have an immunothrombocytopenia (In short: ITP) came from my mother, who had researched very closely.
Thank you, mom!❤️
And today I have endich again, without medication or anything, such a high number of platelets. For the first time since 2015.
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Yes, that was the story in the fast course. It wasn't the best time of my life. But all the more I am happy now and hope that it will stay that way.🥰
I hope it was understandable and all of you are still doing well. Please don’t worry, it is possible to live with the disease, I just have to be very careful.
That's it!
Much love and hugs! Thank you for your interest!🥰
