President Chip introduced today's speaker, Tracey Parker, his former neighbor while he was growing up in Hillsdale, who now lives in Brimingham, Michigan who spoke to us about a rare disease she has. This month is ITP Awareness Month, she said. ITP stands for Immune thrombocytopenic purpura and is a low platelet disorder. A normal person, she said, would normally have between 150,000 and 450,000 platelets.When Tracey was diagnosed seven years ago after noticing blisters on her tongue and a bruise on her back, she had only a 15,000 count! Someone is termed "critical" when they have 20,000 to 30,000. She also noticed that when she washed her hands, she noticed the "pooling of blood" on her hands. This condition, if left untreated, she said, could cause brain bleed, bruising, leg rash, etc.
At first, her doctor attributed her condition to old age but Tracey knew different. Blood work was done but they still told her everything was OK. But then shortly thereafter, another test revealed the disorder. They scheduled a blood transfusion but was quick to point out that she'd taken a friend to the appointment who did not agree with the treatment plan. However, Tracey was still not satisfied especially after one test revealed a 15,000 count and one right after that showed her count went up to 100,000. Even her friend agreed that things were "not right".
Shortly thereafter, her doctor did call her and ordered her to the hospital and specifically tom the Oncology floor within the next hour. She was there a couple of days, she said, and on doses of Prednisone. While the drug did help. it resulted in an "insatiable appetite". It caused many sleepless nights and even cataracts in both eyes, she said. ITP, she said is an auto immune disease but doctors are still not sure what causes it. They suggested the removal of her spleen. Come to find out, Tracey had two spleens which only 10% of the population have! She went for infusions which do not seem to help her condition, she said. She eventually agreed to the Spleenectomy.
Tracey said that she is now two and a half years living with the disease. She's experienced much stress and even went through a divorce, sold a house and accepted a new job. She attributes stress to her condition so has taken measures to reduce it through sound therapy, nutrition and meditation. Tracey is now a member of an ITP support group. She is now in remission.