New to the Blue!

I am a registered nurse and mother of a newly diagnosed, very active, 9 year old girl. She has always been quite healthy aside from her yearly back to school strep continuation. She was scheduled for a tonsillectomy at the end of December. In the beginning of December, I noted increased nose bleeding with a prolonged stop time and increase in bruising with no indication of how they were obtained. I asked her physician for labs so that I would know where her counts stand before her tonsillectomy since I knew it was quite a vascular procedure. And boy, Am I glad I did! She got stat labs and was found to be thrombocytopenic. From that point we have been working with a pediatric hematologist in at MU Women's and Children's hospital, who is amazing.

I have read and re-read forums, medical journals, research articles, and everything under the sun to gather as much information as I can on this condition. It's been a lifestyle changing experience for my daughter who is very active in gymnastics, dance, basketball, baseball, and her newfound favorite-football. While we are monitoring and I am conveniently able to draw her labs at home before school when they're scheduled and at one point her physician had her infused with WinRho, my question always comes back to, " What caused this in the first place?" I'm aware that with something being idiopathic that there is no real definitive answer. Her hematologist offered that she may have had a viral infection in the last few months that could be to blame or an immunization. There has been no indication or signs or symptoms of anything viral that I have noted aside from her usual strep which I suppose could mimic something viral... The only other "new" or different thing was that she got her flu shot this year. ( Which I was told is probably not a factor, though I'm not totally convinced of this).

SO, My question to every one--What has been everyone's given rationale as to how their child's condition had manifested? I know there are endless numbers of possibilities and no real definitive way of knowing but I am curious.

nellj21 wrote: ... There has been no indication or signs or symptoms of anything viral that I have noted aside from her usual strep which I suppose could mimic something viral... The only other "new" or different thing was that she got her flu shot this year. ( Which I was told is probably not a factor, though I'm not totally convinced of this).

SO, My question to every one--What has been everyone's given rationale as to how their child's condition had manifested? I know there are endless numbers of possibilities and no real definitive way of knowing but I am curious.

Sounds like you've picked up more about ITP then the person who suggested her flu shot was 'probably not a factor'.
I guess anything that challenges one's immune system would be my answer. Meaning, I don't think spontaneous ITP is possible but everything else is.

Have you seen Rob16's post about the study that claims IgM, instead of IgG as is the case for adults, is the issue in children?
pdsa.org/discussion-group/6-general-itp-discussion/29749-itp-types-and-treatments-by-hal.html?start=30#62111

Hi Nell, welcome to the group! It can be difficult to pin down the cause, as you well know. Thrombocytopenia is a common reaction to many vaccines, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was the trigger. Here is a list of all current vaccines and the side effects associated with them. If it's not on the list, that doesn't mean that it cannot happen with that particular vaccine. The same goes for medications such as antibiotics which can also trigger ITP.
www.vaccinesafety.edu/package_inserts.htm

Oddly. my sister was diagnosed with ITP after several bouts of tonsillitis at the age of 16. Her counts were 9k at the lowest and she treated with Prednisone. She went into remission after a year and has never had a problem since (she's now 51 years old). Remissions happen all the time so never give up that hope.

nellj21 wrote: SO, My question to every one--What has been everyone's given rationale as to how their child's condition had manifested? I know there are endless numbers of possibilities and no real definitive way of knowing but I am curious.

I got ITP as a child, around age 8. I was very, very sick with a bad flu a few months before I started showing bruising. It would seem that something in that viral infection triggered my ITP (it is possible that I was predisposed to get it, and the virus served as a trigger for the condition to express itself).

Sometimes people get ITP after taking certain medications or receiving certain immunizations. Sometimes after being ill, and sometimes for no discernible reason at all.

It is great that you are a nurse yourself and able to manage some of the platelet count monitoring at home. I would have loved that as a child, instead of having to go to the lab all of the time to get poked!