Rituxan Worked!

Platelets were checked today and they are at 178, which is great!! Praise God that the Rituxan worked.  Now I don't have to go back into the doctor until I see signs of my platelets dropping.  They can drop tomorrow or a year from now or never again.  It's just a waiting game.  I'm leaning more towards them never dropping again, but we'll see.

Thank you for all of your prayers.  I couldn't have made it through this without all of your support and the help from my friends and family.  I hope you won't see an update for a long time (never).  Have a great day.

Rituxan 3 out of 4

Today's treatment is going slow but good. I had a new nurse today that doesn't know my history and when he checked my platelets he said they weren't good. I was bummed but when I asked what the number was he said 133. I almost screamed from excitement. He didn't realize that was a good number for me. Actually thats a GREAT number for me.  Praise God this treatment seems to be working.  Thank you for your continued prayers. Love you all.

2/4 treatments down

The second round of Rituxan went a lot better than the first.  I had no bad reactions this time but it was still slow, 5 hours.  They ran a cbc before starting the IV and it said that my platelets went up to 50 which is great.  I'm not getting too excited though because they could just as easily drop next week.  I won't know for sure if this treatment is working until a few weeks after the treatment is completed.  But, 50 is great.  I also feel so much better than last week.  I think my body was surprised about the IV treatment but it caught on quickly.  I just get some muscle pain every so often but Tylenol helps that so it isn't so bad.  Thank you for all of your prayers.  When I'm hooked up to the IV and my arm is killing me I think about all of your prayers and how blessed I am to have the friends and family in my life that are helping me with my kids and cooking meals for us.  Thank you all so much.  

Trusting God's perfect plan

Well, I haven't updated in awhile because all has been well with my health.  I haven't been on prednisone since the new year and when I got my platelets checked in June they were at the normal range.  Two weeks ago, though, I noticed that my teeth were bleeding when I brushed them and I had some unusual bruising so I decided to visit my hematologist for a cbc.  My platelets dropped to 22,000.  I was so sad when my doctor looked at me like, here we go again.  I begged him not to put me back on prednisone and he decided that was okay as long as we start Rituxan the next day.  Rituxan is the IV treatment that worked for me about 10 months ago so it seems like the best way to go.  Its only one day a week for four weeks.  Praise God for good friends and family because we were able to get babysitters and dinner help within a few hours.  I am BLESSED.
Round one of Rituxan didn't go great, I had a bad reaction to the drug, got a bunch of steroids and then they started slowly administering the drug again.  It took SIX hours.  I felt pretty sick the next three days.  I didn't have that reaction the last time, but I haven't been on any medication in so long that I think my body was a little confused.  I'm feeling better now and I have round two on Thursday.  It should go better and faster.  Please pray that this treatment works and my platelets stabilize at a normal/safe number and that I can avoid steroids this time.  Thank you for all of your support.  I know that God's plan is perfect and I'm just going to keep reminding myself of that over and over again.

Psalms 18:30

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.