When Michaela, my oldest, was three we got that dreaded leukemia diagnosis. She had ITP, a blood disorder. She had to have a spinal tap and she had to go have her blood check 2 or 3 times a week for 6 months afterwards. Scary days. I was scared to death and blissfully ignorant at the same time being you just couldn't google diagnosis back in 1997. I also spent time standing outside UMMC and getting secondhand smoke from from all the people sucking on cancer sticks.
It was a hard time on Michaela. She doesn't remember any of it.
Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a blood disorder characterized by a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood. Platelets are cells in the blood that help stop bleeding. A decrease in platelets can cause easy bruising, bleeding gums, and internal bleeding.
www.hopkinsmedicine.org