Help! 24 wks pregnant with refractory ITP

Hello,

Any help from anyone who's been in my situation would be greatly appreciated.

I'm 24 weeks pregnant, with ITP. Yesterday my platelet count was 5. Luckily I'm not bleeding. Currently I'm on 20mg prednisone/day as well as IVIG of 80grams/week. In December I had that dose of IVIG twice a week for 3 weeks and the highest my platelets got was 21. My Dr wants my platelets at least 20-30.

I have an apt with my haematologist tomorrow afternoon to discuss alternate treatment options. I read the ITP and pregnancy guide on the website and it seems like the only other safe treatment option is splenectomy. The other medications seem to risky for me.

Has anyone had a splenectomy during pregnancy? Are there big risks to my baby? Anything else that could be an option?

Feeling quite scared and frustrated with my blood.

I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm sure it takes away from what should be a happy time in your life.

I have seen one other woman here have a splenectomy while pregnant. She was having twins. The surgery itself went fine, but didn't work to raise her counts. She continued to have low counts until delivery and all went well. She eventually went into remission and as far as I know, has not had a recurrence.

Is Decadron a possibility? Some have had luck with that when Prednisone hasn't worked. If you have a good Hemo and OB/GYN, they will get you through this.

Thank you for responding, it is comforting knowing someone else has been in my situation. I'll ask my Dr about Decadron today. So far my Hemo and Perinatologist have been wonderful.

and yes, I'm spending my days with Dr's appts and IV transfusions instead of getting baby's room ready. My mom has offered to help get things ready for baby, so that's good.