Katherine has been such a trouper about this. There were lots of tears, from her and a few from me, yesterday when her IV was getting placed and her CBCs drawn, but other than that, she's been as good as can be. Today she has been happy -- right this minute, she's amusing herself by throwing her toys around the room -- and didn't even cry at yet another finger-stick. She slept through the night last night, despite the constant parade of nurses, and showed no signs of vomiting or headache.
Her platelet count this morning was 26,000, a slight increase from yesterday's count of 21,000. The doctor says that's an okay improvement for this point, although we will expect to see a bigger increase tomorrow. We'll do another round of IVIG tonight, and if her platelets are up more tomorrow, we'll go home. If they're not, it may be another round of IVIG, or they may just send us home and check up on her.
Most kids, 80% or so, go into spontaneous remission within six months, so we'll check her CBC frequently for the next several months. I'm really hoping we'll be in that category. Of course, 2% of kids die, and that's when I wish I didn't have a good understanding of statistics. Katherine is one of 3750 children in the US who will be diagnosed with it this year, 75 of whom will die. I am praying we come back out on the large end of the odds, and indeed there is excellent reason to think we will.
I am also thankful that it's ITP, rather than any of the other things it could be. Cancer is a major cause of low platelets, and here in the cancer hospital, I can't help thinking of the other mothers like me who took their children to the doctor for something or nothing, only to get the worst news a mother can hear. I am so grateful she "just" has ITP. It could be a lot worse.
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Grateful, yes. But crap it just doesn't seem fair that you guys are on the short end once again! I really hope the Ivig does the trick, and she recovers nicely in the next few months.
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