Remission?

Platelets are up to 144, so we are staying steady!  I'm so excited, praise God.  I'm down to 2.5mg of prednisone and go back in for a cbc in 2 weeks. Thank you for all of your prayers, I have some anxiety before I get my blood drawn b/c I am nervous that the numbers will be low, or that I have too many bruises from the week.  Your prayers really help me. Please continue to pray that my platelet count remains the same for a long time. That's the thing with ITP, my doctor reminded me today, my numbers can stay, climb, drop all at any second, we just have to play it by ear.  Thanks again for your prayers.

10/22/2012

Platelets are up to 126! Praise God.  That's almost to the normal range.  I'm beyond excited. Down to 5mg of prednisone and I go back in 2 weeks to recheck.  It is such a relief to be seeing something positive from a treatment.  Thank you all for your prayers and I would really appreciate your continued prayer that they stay high and I can keep getting of the steroids.  Now, it's time to take advantage of these high platelet numbers and low steroids and get running!!

End of Rituxan 10/10/12

Had my last treatment of Rituxan today.  Things went well, no side effects.  My platelet count is at 68. My doctor said that he usually sees better results by now, but we'll recheck my count on the 22nd.  I'm down to 7.5mg of prednisone.
If my platelets are the same or higher we'll keep weaning off steroids, but if it is lower we're either going to try another round of rituxan or schedule to have my spleen removed.  Please pray that my platelets stay the same or go higher.  Thank you for all of your support.

Rituxan 1/4 - 9/19/12

I have about 30 minutes left of the first of 4 Rituxan treatments.  It has been a long day and I can't wait to get home and see my family.  My cbc showed that my platelets are at 57 so I'm getting lowered to 20mg of prednsione.  The IV is annoying and I had a bad reaction at first to the drug. My throat got really itchy and dry and I had a difficult time breathing. I was going to go on oxygen but they gave me a steroid called solu-medrol through the IV and the side effects went away and they were able to keep giving me the meds.  

Please pray that it's working, I've been reading online a lot of positive results from this drug. 

Thank you for your support. Going to go home now and rest - Kayte

Sept. 10, 2012

My count is up to 49,000 which is great, but not a surprise since I'm up to 30mg of prednisone. My hematologist and I agree that I can't stay on prednisone forever, it's taking it's toll on me. He was thinking about doing the IVIG treatment again, but since my platelet count has gone into a safer number it's not immediately necessary.  He said that we're going to use Rituxan as a treatment and if that doesn't work then we'll do a splenectomy. Below is a link that explains the Rituxan treatment if you're interested.  It's going to start next Wednesday and go for 4 weeks. Also, going down to 25mg of Prednisone (here comes the slow weaning process).
Thank you for your support and prayers. I would love to avoid getting my spleen removed so let's pray that this works! I'll keep you all updated, maybe even during the treatment since it's almost 5 hours long!

http://www.pdsa.org/itp-treatments/rituxan.html

Thanks again,
Kayte

Isaiah 41:10 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

September 7, 2012

My count is 8,000.  I'm now at 30mg of prednisone and go in on Monday for a follow up. Between now and Monday we have to figure out which treatment we're going to do next. I'm looking up something called nplate, which my doc said would prob work for me but is costly. yup, we know about costly treatments.  He first recommended we do the IVIG AGAIN! I hesitated b/c it was awful to receive, didn't work and cost a lot of money.  But he was more positive about the nplate.  So this weekend is researching, taking more prednisone, eating everything in the house b/c of the prednisone and trying not to bump my head.
Please pray that my counts go up to a safe number, and my safety. The doc said that this is a number that he would hospitalize me at and give me hemaglobins, but he was sure that with the increased dosage of prednisone that my count would get higher quickly.
Also, please pray that I stay positive and don't complain so much, poor Tommy. He's a saint for listening to me complain about bad I feel.
- Kayte
Proverbs 3:5,6
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths."

August 24th

Count is 29, which is the same as a couple of weeks ago.  Still staying on 7.5 mg of prednisone and I go back for another cbc in 2 weeks.  Thanks for checking up on me and thanks for the prayers.  Please continue to pray for health and safety  Have a great weekend.

August 10, 2012

Well, my platelet count is down to 25,000 - so not good.  Staying on 7.5mg of prednisone and I go in for another cbc in 2 weeks.  Thank you for all of your prayers.  Please continue to pray for the count to go up and right now, specifically, that I stay safe and healthy.
Kayte
"Rejoice in the LORD always, I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4 (I'm repeating this over and over again today!)

July 27th

So my platelets dropped to 54 and I'm staying at 7.5mg of Prednisone for another 2 weeks.  Not thrilled with these results but the numbers are safe.  Please pray that they go back up and in a couple weeks we'll be able to decrease the Prednisone again.  Thanks for checking up on me.  Have a blessed weekend!

Colossians 3:15  "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful."

Friday the 13th

Well, for being Friday the 13th, it isn't so scary. My platelets are 80,000 which means that they're pretty much the same as 2 weeks ago.  That is a good thing.  My doc explained that we're not really expecting my platelets to go higher, just looking for them to maintain as we're getting me off the prednisone.  I'm now down to 7.5mg of the steroid and will go in to get checked in 2 weeks.  Thank you so much for all of your kind words and prayers, I really appreciate it and ask for your continued prayer that things stay the same and I can get off this drug.

Some of you have asked me some questions and I figured you all might have them so I'll address a couple.  One big question I keep getting is what's normal?  "Normal" platelets are 150,000 to 450,000.  I'll probably not be in that normal range, but the danger zone is anything less than 30,000.  So if I'm right in the middle there everything would be great for me.  Another questions is asking how I feel.  I feel ok, and that's really the best answer.  The worst part is the steroid side effects, but keeping my kids busy keeps me very distracted.  I don't really have any effects with just having low platelets, except for when they were like really low, I was very fatigued then. But mainly I'm just really sore and hungry all of the time.  I think the hardest part of this whole thing is my thoughts, I have anxiety leading up to the test every week or 2 weeks and I really just need to trust in God that his plan for me is the best and that everything happening is just to bring me closer to him.  I could not have made it through the past few years in dealing with ITP without Jesus Christ and I turn to him constantly for encouragement.  I'm not sure why he made me with all of these auto immune disorders but all I can do is trust that it is for his greater plan. I'm sure some of you have things going on in your life that are difficult or just confusing and I want to encourage you to turn your concerns over to Christ because he will gladly take them and give you peace and understanding in return.  What an awesome God we have!

I'm so blessed and thankful to have you all in my life to pray for me.  If there is anything specific I can be praying for you, please don't hesitate to message me and let me know.  You are all in my prayers.  God Bless.  Kayte

Psalsm 139:14a

6/29

My platelets are at 77,000! Woohoo. Praise the Lord. Down to 10 mg of prednisone. Thank you for all your prayers. I go back in in 2 weeks, so excited to have a week off from the needle. Keep you all updated. Have a great fourth of July.

6/22/12

My platelets are up at 47,000.  My doc wasn't in so the other physician there is keeping me on 15mg of prednisone still.  She said that if it is really on an upswing, that is most likely due to the chemo, and that hopefully next week we'll start the SLOW process of weaning me off the prednisone.  That would be AMAZING!  I'm very over being on this drug. 
So, good news that my platelets are up and I feel more safe going camping this weekend. Please continue to pray for my platelet count to keep growing higher, my side effects from the prednisone to be minimal and for my safety.  Will update again next week. Thanks!

6/15/12

Had my platelets checked today and they are at 23,000.  Dr. Folbe said that the chemo might take a while to start working so not to be too alarmed.  I'm staying on 15mg a day of prednisone and my next check up is in a week.  If you have any questions please feel free to leave them here. 
Please pray that my count goes up and that the chemo worked. Thanks for your support.
Kayte