Great Team, Ugly ITP

Have you ever wondered what a person's arms and legs look like when they have ITP? I didn't think so. But if you want a peek, look way below. Warning, it's not pretty.

The Look of an Expert Phlebotomist...

Another afternoon at American Fork Hospital for a round of jousting, I mean, a blood check. The Phlebotomist had forgotten that Thursday is joust day and left her jousting shoes at home so it was game off for jousting, game on for "one-hand" blood collection. Yes, one hand. I've never seen that before. She did the whole thing with one hand, trash talking the whole time! I'm telling you, these people are experts.

She Collected My Blood with One Arm Tied Behind her Back

I waited around for the lab results. They were not good - my platelets had dropped to 19k, which resulted in a call from Dr. Rich. He's putting me back on the Dexemethasone, which I had sworn off last week and redrawing the game plan. We'll discuss in the morning.

A Look at ITP
On September 19 2011 a good-sized group of us rode Frank, Dragon's Back, and the Dry Loop. Collectively, we have done this literally hundreds of times - we know the trails start to finish really well. On this day, as we were pushing through a downhill transition part of the system, my tires washed out on a fairly tight left-hander and I ended up in the dirt. Fortunately I got my hands, arms, and legs out in front of my body to break the fall. The crash was mild but the marks it left were puzzling as you can see from the pictures below. Rick S and Dave asked if we needed to stop. My answer was, "Why?" I felt fine.

I finished the ride in fine form. A tad bloody, but just fine. In retrospect, knowing then what I know today about ITP and, simply, if I had known that I had ITP when I crashed, I would have been less likely to let my pals make jokes about my blood-letting. Incidentally, Dave B crashed in the same place about one week later. This time he was in front of me so I got to make the jokes.

The Arm of ITP: Mild Scratches Underneath the Blood Flames. Photo: Rick S

The Leg of ITP: Hmmm, what is that thing?

Platelets: 19k

(down from 56k two days prior)

meds: 20MG Prednisone and 40MG Dexamethasone (steroids)