Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia

I guessed at my own autoimmune disorder, caused by none other than 22q, my genetic disability, just this year, only because I was wondering what it was. I pestered my endocrinologist about it, and she finally came out and said I had autoimmune thrombocytopenia which is low blood platelets in plain English, a medical condition where the white and red blood cell count is low. There are nowhere near enough books to read about this condition. Apparently not enough blood platelets are made in the bone marrow, they breakdown more in the bloodstream, and in the spleen or liver. What scares me the most about this condition is that it means shaking off viruses is hard, although I have not had a cold or flu in two years since the last one, which lasted a week?

You could say I'm a cut above many people with this condition. Why? I do not get sick as often as I might. I'm lucky like this, very lucky. Not even my family knows just how lucky they got because people with 22q, do not always make it sometimes. There are babies with this condition who die, even without Munchausen by Proxy in the mix. Sometimes thrombocytopenia doesn't cause symptoms while the symptoms as listed on MedlinePlus state that you can get, bleeding in the mouth and gums, bruising, nosebleeds, and a rash made up of red spots also called petechiae.

I've had a CBC blood count test this year, which was fine and I don’t need another one according to my endo. There is also a blood-clotting test involved. Other tests include bone marrow aspiration or biopsy. Complications of this disorder include severe bleeding, either in the gastrointestinal tract or bleeding in the brain. Yes, this disorder seemed frightening to me when I first learned of it.

But you know what? I can't live my life paranoid. I had heavy menstrual cycles in high school and parts of my 20s give or take until I got on birth control in my thirties and it was less crazy. Thrombocytopenia can cause that sort of thing to get worse though. In high school when I was at a surf camp, I'd poke my finger with one of their lancets, and it would bleed like crazy to the point where one kid said I was bleeding like a hemophiliac. Well, yes, those are two different things, and well, the blood eventually stopped, because low blood platelets cause difficulty with the body forming clots, but I've learned how to mitigate this using mind over body from past lives, because I tell my body to stop bleeding and it does. I haven't been gushing like crazy lately, with any finger stick, so I guess you could say I'm doing better.

I've had bleeding gums for sure, but not purpura, which are red, purple, or brown bruises. I used to get nosebleeds and had no information about why it would happen the way it did. I've never had bleeding problems from anything, so I guess you could say it boils down to sheer luck that my mother doesn't understand just how lucky she got. I've never had symptoms of internal bleedings or headaches or for that matter any neurological situations. Once again, I'm lucky. I do have an iron deficiency, which is something I take a prescription iron supplement for.

If blood platelets live 10 days, then I could work on meditations I haven't thought of yet but will eventually come to me. I have so many books in my head rattling around, that it gets painful. Yes, I have books, articles, and more. There is so much stuck in my head. I take to meditating with a Lemurian crystal, a small one, and I'm wondering if I need one of those big ones to stash behind my bed, just to keep the claircognizant jumble straight. Once again, my blood platelet situation is sheer luck because I don't need treatment. I have mind-over-body skills that keep my body intact. Funny, since I don't look like I come from the era of floppy discs and Pay phones, people judge me as younger than I actually am. The dumb luck of it all, eh?