The Update

Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes!

Just wanted to post a quick update from my doctor's appointment yesterday. It went really well! I met with a Rheumatology Fellow for about 20 minutes reviewing my history and answering a zillion questions. She went out to brief one of the big guys and they both came back in to talk with me some more. The good news is that they've basically ruled out Lupus (which was a pretty slim possibility anyway) and said they they it is pretty unlikely I have any of their "bad diseases".

But, they ordered about a million blood tests just to be sure.

So, it is looking more and more like I've just got ITP -- the first word of which is idiopathic meaning we don't know why. And, ITP is totally manageable and something I can live with for a very, very long time.

Even after all this good news they gave me even better news -- they agree I should be coming off the prednisone (steroids). But, they weren't willing/able to actually do it. I'm back to see the Hematologist on Thursday (tomorrow) and am planning to insist that I start coming off them. My understanding is that I can come down about 20mg. a week so here's hoping I'll be steroid-free by mid-July! (Just in time to be puff-free for that wedding!!)