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Navigating ITP and Pregnancy: Meredith's Inspiring Journey
48 Plays10 months ago
In this episode of Bruised but Not Broken: Living with ITP, host Barbara Pruitt sits down with Meredith Prescott to discuss her incredible journey of navigating life with ITP while pursuing her dreams, building a career, and starting a family. Diagnosed as a college senior, Meredith shares how she overcame the challenges of living with ITP, from understanding her diagnosis to managing pregnancy and motherhood.
Listeners will hear candid insights about balancing medical treatments with daily life, planning for childbirth with ITP, and finding strength through self-advocacy and support networks. Whether you’re living with ITP, considering pregnancy, or supporting someone with a bleeding disorder, this episode offers valuable advice, heartfelt stories, and a message of hope for thriving despite life’s challenges.
Tune in to be inspired by Meredith’s resilience, and learn how you, too, can navigate life with ITP.
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Transcript
Introduction and Initial Concerns
00:00:00
Speaker
I mean, there was a thought in my mind like, oh, I hope that the baby doesn't have it temporarily. But they sort of explained to me that would be like a small chance that maybe if you had low platelets when you delivered, the baby may have low platelets for a period of time, but they likely would rise. So anything that would happen would likely be very short term. So that always made me feel at ease.
Living with ITP: Stories and Tips
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome to the PDSA podcast, bruised but not broken, living with ITP. The diagnosis of a bleeding disorder like immune thrombocytopenia may leave you wondering, how can I really live my life with ITP? PDSA's podcast, Bruised But Not Broken, Living With ITP, brings empowering stories, the latest research and treatment updates, lifestyle tips, and answers to the real life questions the
00:01:04
Speaker
My guest today was diagnosed with ITP when she was a senior in college.
Meredith's Diagnosis and College Experience
00:01:10
Speaker
She had no idea what platelets were or ITP. But let me let her tell you a bit about that. So let me introduce Meredith. Thank you for being with us today. Thank you so much for having me. Great. Tell us a little bit about yourself. What was it like when you were diagnosed and where has your life led you since that diagnosis?
00:01:33
Speaker
It was extremely hard. I was a senior in college. I was, it was fall semester. I was like super excited to be, you know, a senior enjoying the last bit of college, having fun with friends and all of that. And I noticed some bruising. I was right around Thanksgiving. So I went home to, when I was going home anyway, I ended up going to the primary care doctor.
00:01:53
Speaker
And they did like a lab test and I thought, oh, it was probably just iron or something, something like fixable and easy. And then they called me when I got back to school already to tell me that my platelets were really low and that I needed to do something immediately about it and to see a hematologist. And I had no idea like what platelets were. I didn't really understand kind of why.
00:02:14
Speaker
This was happening. And then from there, I did i found a hematologist and did more of a workup where they were able to diagnose me with ITP. So that's sort of how the story came about. you know just all My only symptom at the time was bruising. I didn't necessarily think of it was anything serious.
00:02:32
Speaker
Right. Well, a bruise here or there doesn't seem to be serious. But when you get the blood work done and they're calling you and saying, this is really important, then that changes your whole attitude towards it. So were you able to finish college then? or I was i actually. it's sometimes Sometimes things happen in mysterious ways and I've gotten a lot more spiritual in my journey, you know, since I've been diagnosed now. But I only had 13 credits after that semester to finish in order to graduate. And I think the max amount was 15 that you could do remote work. So I was just under that. So I finished out the semester and then I had one more semester left, just the winter semester to get
Support and Career Path
00:03:12
Speaker
through. And the Dean that I had asked, you know, hey, look, I'm doing this new treatment. I you know i wasn't sure I was going to be back and forth between New Jersey and New York. and
00:03:20
Speaker
Maryland, because i I went to University of Maryland for undergrad. And Dean had said to me, you know, my, my sibling has ITP, you know, no problem, do what you need to do at home, you know, go to your doctors, go to your appointments, you can finish out this semester. Wow, that's really fortunate that he actually knew what it was.
00:03:41
Speaker
Yeah, so I was really lucky in that regard. And then, you know, of course, you but after I graduated, she actually retired the year later. So it was like crazy timing that. that this person was in my life. So I was able to graduate on time and finish out the semester, even though it was obviously very different for me than you know my friends or peers who were not navigating ITP right during their senior year. Right. And did you go on to study anything else after that? Or what what happened in your life?
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah. So ironically, I was trying to, you know, as all seniors are, you're trying to figure out like what you want to do out of your life. You know, do you want to go to grad school? do What kind of job do you want? And so i I didn't really have as much time to think about what I wanted to do initially because I was so kind of burdened with the ITP diagnosis and the medical appointments so that a lot of my focus was, you know, navigating ITP as opposed to other seniors.
00:04:32
Speaker
But then I realized, you know, maybe this is my calling. Like maybe there's something I can do to give back or help other people that are dealing with health health challenges or just in general other emotional challenges in their life. So I applied to grad school and I went to, so I ended up getting into Fordham Social Work School and I i wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do at the time. I just knew I wanted to do something to help.
00:04:55
Speaker
So the social work program is pretty, you know, there's a lot of options. It's pretty diverse. So I figured, you know what, this is a good degree to have. I can figure it out once I'm there. Let me just get in there.
Professional Journey in Social Work
00:05:06
Speaker
And so I, the following fall, went to social work school at Fordham University in the city, and I moved to the city for two years. It was a two-year program.
00:05:14
Speaker
and I was able to study there. And the first year I worked with um adults with special needs and I really, really liked that. And in the second year I asked for a placement in hospital and I worked in the bone marrow transplant unit counseling cancer patients like end of life.
00:05:30
Speaker
at Cornell. wow And then from there, I was like, wait, maybe I i do like this health stuff. you know Maybe I want to be in the health world. And given my understanding, I felt like my medical literacy you know improved greatly since being diagnosed and understanding the medical jargon and just what patients' lives were like that were you know diagnosed with challenging situations. So I ended up taking a job after that for five years at the Mount Zion Hospital in the city doing um counseling for cancer patients.
00:06:01
Speaker
Wow, that's wonderful. It's interesting how people's journeys with ITP can lead them into other medical fields or, you know, their understanding of what they're going through can really lead them in directions to help others because I've seen that time and time again. absolutely think thats I think that's why I went to nursing school because as a child, I was so familiar with all of all of the medical environment and jargon. So it seemed very natural for me.
Personal Life and Starting a Practice
00:06:37
Speaker
And then you, I guess, got married and had a baby, right?
00:06:41
Speaker
Yeah, so then, yes, so um I met my husband actually ah right after I had graduated grad school. um We were living in the city and I was dating my husband throughout my career at Mount Sinai. And then I ended up, I got married in 2021, fall of 2021. And then I actually left the hospital right around the time, I think it was right after COVID actually, like and I started up my own practice.
00:07:08
Speaker
So because there's a lot of limitations of things I wanted to to help clients with that I can't do in that type of setting. And I wanted to expand the people that I was helping. And I think as much as it's so great to help people, you know, end of life, it's super, super depressing. And there's only so much work that you can do. So I wanted some of that to be my focus, but I didn't want like, I wanted to have other clients that were not necessarily navigating just that. So now I work with clients that are grieving or families that are grieving, but not limited to that. I'm working with couples, I'm working with, now I have my own practice, I work with all types of challenges, all health issues, not specific to cancer necessarily, a lot of autoimmune stuff, chronic pain, and a lot of conditions that are not medical.
00:07:52
Speaker
Okay. Well, that's great. It sounds like it's well rounded. So yeah. And I think I needed that after, you know, working in the hospital and, and watching, you know, so many people die. Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's other avenues for you to follow, which was great.
Family Planning with ITP
00:08:08
Speaker
So you, you have a little son from what I understand. Yes. So my son, Oliver, he's amazing. So i he's 19 months now. It's crazy to believe that. So yeah. So I began that journey.
00:08:21
Speaker
Like shortly after we got married, we started trying and I wasn't sure what it was going to be like as not only as a mom, but also as like an ITP patient and what the process would look like, you know, throughout pregnancy and postpartum. So it was a lot of of changes, but it's been such an incredible journey and I'm so blessed to have such an amazing son. And now you're pregnant with your second, correct? yeah How far along are you?
00:08:46
Speaker
um actually do next month. I am like 30, three weeks this week. Oh, wonderful. Wonderful. Well, let me ask you when when you decided to start a family, did you meet with your hematologist or your obstetrician to talk about your journey with ITP or Yeah, I did. I didn't have like an OB be at the time that I was like seeing so regularly, but I was more in contact with the hemo because I had seen her every three months. I had a closer relationship with the hematologist. So prior to even, because I feel like I'm pretty proactive, even prior to like being ready to have a family, actually right before I got married, I had spoken to her about
00:09:30
Speaker
options, what medications were safe, what she thought, you know what the likelihood is that your platelets drop, you know in what in what trimester. I had asked like a bunch of these questions. I felt pretty prepared in terms of what I knew, but I think the reality is there's so much uncertainty with the platelets rising and declining that you don't really know until You're in it until you're pregnant, right? You don't know. They can't tell you, oh, this week you're going to have to go get an infusion or this week, you know, your platelets are going to be fine and you don't need anything. So, I mean, I had some answers which were helpful, but I think I knew a lot of it would just come down to like.
00:10:08
Speaker
Wait and see. Exactly. Yeah. Because everybody's journey is very different. Exactly. I think that's the hardest part. You don't really know. And even every pregnancy, I mean, I can speak how different this pregnancy is is from the last pregnancy. So I think even if you, I think for people who are thinking about getting pregnant, even each pregnancy is different. So don't think just because it was really hard one time, the next time it will be equally as hard. It might be easier or it could be really easy the first time and more to challenging the second. It's really not, doesn't really make sense.
00:10:38
Speaker
Well, your conversations about the birth of your child, did they recommend that you see a pediatric hematologist or a neonatologist? Were they concerned about maybe the baby having ITP? No, they weren't. Actually, that was something I had asked you know my hematologist prior to getting pregnant. and In my experience, it's not really genetic. I mean, a lot of people I know that have ITP families don't have it. So I really wasn't so concerned. I did do genetic testing in general, and everything you know was OK, thankfully. But I wasn't so worried about the baby. I mean, there was a thought in my mind, like, oh, I hope that the baby doesn't have it temporarily. But they sort of explained to me there would be like a small chance that maybe if you had low platelets when you delivered, the baby may have low platelets for a period of time, but they likely would rise. So anything that would happen would likely be very short term. So that always made me feel at ease.
00:11:28
Speaker
Well, when I was and pregnant, that's exactly what happened. And the way it was explained was that the anti platelet antibodies across the placenta and went into the baby. So her platelet count was 16000 when she was born, because that's what mine was. Right. So um it took about five months before her platelet count was normal. She did not have ITP.
00:11:54
Speaker
But my antibodies lived, you know, for that long before she had a normal count. and I mean, and she's been normal ever since. There's yeah but never been a question. It was just was probably really stressful for those five months.
00:12:08
Speaker
Right, because, you know, a newborn baby and you're worried you don't want to trip and fall when you're holding your child, you know, because with that low plate will account. But, you know, like your doctor said, if that happened, it would pass. And it did. And it did for me. Now, you said that your every pregnancy is different. What's been different about your second
Pregnancy and Medical Decision-Making
00:12:29
Speaker
pregnancy from your first?
00:12:32
Speaker
a lot so far. So the first pregnancy for me was really grueling. I mean, again, I don't know how much of it was, that I mean, yes, it was ITP related, but not fully. I think that's the hard part, right? How do you decipher what's ITP symptoms, which is what's just like aggravating pregnancy symptoms that would happen even if you didn't have ITP because I think a lot of people find pregnancy to be pretty challenging.
00:12:51
Speaker
But for me the last pregnancy in general was just much harder in terms of like but I mean, I feel like I was always hungry. I wasn't sleeping as well I had actually a thyroid issue in early on in the pregnancy that I you know, I don't know if my metabolism it It seems like my metabolism just wasn't the same and so I think that caused like more inflammation in my body Which I don't have that thyroid issue in this pregnancy So I think in terms of appetite my blood sugar is more balanced but last time I got the flu at like maybe I was 20 weeks pregnant. And so i then my platelets dropped and had to get an infusion. I had to get the IVIG. So I think from 20 weeks, which is like basically halfway, I would say the pregnancy was particularly hard. And then i my platelets kind of never recovered. You know, let's say they were like 50,000, which I didn't need treatment for for the first 20 weeks, I would say
00:13:43
Speaker
from 20 weeks to 37, you know, they were below 30. So I was getting infusions every few weeks. So I think that was much more challenging. This time around, um' knock on wood, I'm 33 weeks, like I said before, and I had not had an infusion yet. Wonderful. I also didn't get sick. I didn't, I just, you know, knock on wood. I haven't had the flu this time around yet. So Yeah, because I know viruses, I mean, for most of us, they really knock your platelet count down and yeah now valie they'll rebound, but sometimes it takes a while. so right um How often have you been told to get platelet counts during yeah your pregnancies? Is it different from the first to the second? or
00:14:28
Speaker
Yeah. it's the same So I think it's been helpful actually getting less platelet draws for me because I find it just really stressful. And a lot of times it feels like it's like more anxiety than it is worth it. So last time my I actually switched doctors, not hemat well, hematologist too, because she left the practice, but also gynecologist and I'm having a better experience this time around, which I think is also helping with the pregnancy.
00:14:49
Speaker
But last time I think I was getting like play the draws. Like I felt like almost every week after 20 weeks and it was just too much. Like I feel like you identify too much as the sick role. And I felt like, you know, you're always on edge. Like, well, what's today going to bring? And do I have to cancel my work or my obligations or whatever I had knowing that I might have to get an infusion. So this time, and and I didn't have so many symptoms that I think that's the difference. And I wonder for other people, like for me, if I drop below 30, I really don't have symptoms. So for me, I'm like, well, why am I going to go sit for an infusion?
00:15:20
Speaker
If I don't have symptoms that I'm not delivering a baby this week, like it just didn't make sense. I think that was challenging. So this time I'm, I'm honored a little bit less. That's every few weeks I'm getting. And I actually this time around do it at the gynecology office because they draw labs. So instead of having to go twice, I feel like that has been really helpful for me.
00:15:39
Speaker
Well, that's great that you you're able to join them together. And then I'm sure the lab results are sent to your hematologist so that they know what's going on. So did they consider you, I know nowadays they do this, but did they consider you a high risk pregnancy because you've got ITP or did they not give you that? Yeah, they did. I do see a high risk practice. Look, I'm sure that a non high risk doctor could manage it, but I do think there is a lot of alarm around ITP with low platelets. like I think even physicians, when they see the number low, they're like you know they have their own emotional reaction to what's happening.
00:16:16
Speaker
Absolutely. And all of them have different reactions. It depends on their contact with other ITP patients and what those journeys had been like, if, if they had had a patient with ITP that had a bad journey, then they're going to be more anxious about you as an individual as a person. Right. Like when you pick up on the doctor's anxiety about it. I'm like, I walked in, I think it was like, was it two weeks ago, my accounts were in the high 30s, which I was like, doc, this is great. like I don't have to get into fusion because we agreed that if it was below 20, unless I was going into labor or like closer. And he was like, well, they're not good, Meredith. they're just They're not as bad as they were. I'm like, no, this is good for me. right So I feel like some of these doctors, like they even take for ... I'm like, this is amazing. like i I'm not going to take any of these numbers for granted.
00:17:04
Speaker
I think as an ITP patient oftentimes once we are comfortable with the count that we have and the way that we are physically presenting ourselves. In other words, do we have a lot of symptoms? I think there's very frequently I've had to educate doctors about this is good for me. You know, I'm doing okay with this number. This number is okay. I don't i don't need you to worry.
00:17:29
Speaker
And it's unwarranted, you know, for you to worry about this number. Okay. Yeah. Now sometimes we don't give our bodies credit. Like, how long can you hang out a number before things become problematic? Right? Like, is everything urgent? Again, if you have symptoms, you're bleeding out totally
Managing ITP During Pregnancy
00:17:44
Speaker
different story. But if you have no symptoms, you have energy, and you wouldn't know unless you had a blood test, that information isn't always helpful. Like, I feel like that just causes more anxiety. And for me, it's been one of the most challenging parts about the pregnancy isn't actually even being pregnant. It's that getting these appointments for IVIG at the hematology office when I'm pregnant has been very hard. This time, it's a little easier. But you know if my platelets were to drop and I needed IVIG tomorrow, like there's not always a chair. So for me, I'm like, so so why am I going to get stressed out about something if like you can't definitively help me at 9 a.m. tomorrow with this problem? Right. Right. I i get that. I get that. ah Have you had any specific precautions? I know that sounds kind of
00:18:29
Speaker
broad but during your pregnancy, have you been worried about anything that you normally wouldn't worry about in your normal day-to-day life? As you get larger and larger, your balance is different. You've got a baby at home that you're taken care of. I mean, I guess you probably need to be a lot more careful about your movements and things is what I'm i'm thinking of. is Yeah, I don't, honestly, you know, God willing, I'm not really symptomatic.
00:18:57
Speaker
So I, and I never really have been at this type of count in the thirties, let's say. So I don't really think, I don't really worry about like, Oh, if I fall, well I believe, I mean, look, if I fall, I'll get a bruise and maybe it will take longer to go away than the average person. But I don't know that I, I really fear at this point and with these levels that I, I'm restricted with movements. You know, I think in general, like picking up a toddler, you know, I kind of, um,
00:19:23
Speaker
You know your body, you know that you can tolerate and you feel scared. Like, you know, I think obviously if you're like skiing or something, that's different, but I'm not doing that any way pregnant. I actually think a lot of the things that you don't do pregnant because of pregnancy actually make ITP easier, right?
00:19:37
Speaker
Yeah, true. You know, a lot of things like I actually think in some ways, like, you don't feel as discriminated against because no one I mean, you could ski pregnant, but that's not really a wise thing, regardless. Right. Sure, this amazing Olympic skier. So it's like a lot of the restrictions are kind of like, across the board restrictions, right? Like ice skating, like, yeah, they don't let you I was actually just went with my son and my husband to Bryant Park, my husband took my son ice skating, I just took pictures on the side, but they don't let you go pregnant or not, re let alone if you have ITP. So I think these things, you actually kind of feel more like, oh, okay, well, at least it's not just me. Right, right, exactly. Question, did you have a delivery so strategy prior to your son being born and now this time around? yeah
00:20:26
Speaker
So that I think was actually the most challenging part of the whole thing outside of getting the infusions was like this anticipation and anxiety of like, well, what's the delivery going to look like? So I actually wanted to get a C-section from the beginning. I thought it was, I was like, you know what, they could do the IVIG. make sure the count's above 70 because this whole thing with the epidural and I don't know if people are listening are like, Oh, well, what, like, why, why does it matter? So in order to get an epidural and it it actually varies per hospital. So you have to decide where you're delivering. So some hospitals it's 80,000 to have an epidural and at Cornell happens to be 70,000, which is actually more beneficial for ITP patients, which most people probably don't think, Oh, maybe I should pick a hospital that has a lower number because you might miss the cutoff. So I had spoken to.
00:21:10
Speaker
anesthesiology in advance prior to delivery to talk about pain options. But I think the hard part is that if you go into spontaneous labor, which is one of the things I feared and your platelets aren't up, then what happens? Then they have to pull you out and do a c-section.
00:21:26
Speaker
unless you can deliver, you know, I don't, you know, I guess it depends on what your numbers are. So I did not, I ended up getting a c-section, but it was a ah really long 36 hours in c-section, which should have just been in a c-section to begin with. So this time around, I will do a plant c-section like I had requested and I think it will be more controlled in terms of being able to get my numbers up. But I was blessed that i the two infusions I did last time, I think my counts went to 78. So i I was in the ring and I was able to get an epidural. So that was no issue. Sometimes when you have less platelets, your actual platelets work better. So even though I only had 78, which I assume most people see sections probably have 200 or
00:22:05
Speaker
whatever, 300 or whatever, 150, let's just, that don't have ITP and this is not a variable. I actually lost like less blood, they said, than a natural birth. Like I really had no bleeding. Again, I think this comes back to like, your body kind of figures out a way to heal in some ways. And so it kind of compensates for what it lacks. So if you're less symptomatic, maybe your platelets are clotting better, but there's just less of them.
00:22:27
Speaker
Yeah, I I agree with your body's always trying to find that equilibrium when something's out of balance, it tries to equal it out. I my journey was I I my obstetrician let me decide whether I wanted to do a C-section or a natural birth. And and and I decided my husband and I that we wanted a C-section just because we could my counts were so low and I felt that they could address any bleeding much better. yeah More proactively with the plate. Yeah, rather than. Right. and I had steroids a couple of days before delivery because it was a planned C-section. Then as I was being wheeled into the OR, r they gave me platelet transfusion.
00:23:18
Speaker
And that's the only time I've had a platelet transfusion in my whole life. And my doctor said the same thing, that my bleeding was absolutely mental. One thing that I learned recently is that the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, they actually have anesthesia guidelines for patients with ITP.
00:23:43
Speaker
And I don't know what they are, but I was told by ah and a physician, a hematologist, that she actually had to print them out and hand them to an anesthesiologist and say, yes, you can give this patient you know an epidural. And that's because of their guidelines. I also know that the University of Oklahoma is working on publishing guidelines for the treatment of pregnant women with ITP.
Call for Standardized Guidelines
00:24:15
Speaker
So that will be very helpful, I think, moving into the future.
00:24:19
Speaker
doctors don't want to be liable if something happens. But I do think this 70 cutoff is so arbitrary because what if it's 65 and you have no bleeding? Why are you making that person suffer suffer without an epidural? Or why are you going to put them under general anesthesia? you know It just doesn't make sense. And I think there's there's not an option to like sign your life away. you know they They just won't do it.
00:24:39
Speaker
Right. And especially when it's something that they don't understand and work with on a regular basis, they're going to be much more cautious. Yeah. You know, which, which you can understand, but I think, I think these guidelines will be very helpful in the future. ah please Now, when your son was born, did they check his platelet count? Yeah. And it was normal, thankfully right away. So that was not an issue. And they also checked it at his like, I think of the pediatrician, he had like a, you know, I think even a year out, they check all labs or whatever. So they had rechecked it even later on and it was fine. Wonderful. That's the best news you could hope for, yeah right? right yeah yeah Yeah. What kind of support have you had you know through your pregnancy and all of this, you know your ITP journey?
Support Systems and Advice
00:25:28
Speaker
Yeah, I've had such great support from family, from friends, from the medical community. and I feel really blessed in that department because I think pregnancy by itself, when everything goes smoothly and it's boring and easy and non-problematic and non-complicated is hard. And then you factor in these other variables. So I'm really lucky to have had you know such great support from my husband, from my parents, from friends, from you know doctors, you know anyone that was you know PDSA, anyone who was able to help me.
00:25:57
Speaker
It makes a big difference. It really does. You know, people concerned about your welfare and wanting you to do well and and stuff. It does make a big difference. I know my advice to you just in one thing when I'm thinking you have a a toddler and now you're having another one. The hardest time in my life physically with my ITP was when my children were young, when they were preschoolers. and You're just a very busy mom. you know There's so much going on. you're You're watching them constantly. You don't want them to hurt themselves. you know You're concerned about their safety. and Then it's all the other stuff in your life that you have to take care of. and
00:26:41
Speaker
I put my sleep on the back burner. I was busy doing all this other stuff and I was not getting enough rest. So my advice is make sure you put yourself on the front. Yeah. listen Hands down the most. Yeah. Yeah. I was not that smart and it, and it, I suffered for it. I ended up in the hospital with, you know, no plate, no platelets, but Hey, I'm here. So I'm, I'm not complaining, but take good care of yourself.
00:27:07
Speaker
Do you have any advice that you would give to a person with ITP that's thinking about becoming pregnant or somebody that has ITP and is pregnant? Well, a few things. I think I would talk to, you know, make sure you find a doctor that's experienced with ITP if you're thinking about, you know, who you're choosing in terms of gynecology and making sure you like your hematologist and they'll be working together. And also I think know yourself and be able to advocate for the treatments that you want or the treatments that work for you in the past while understanding that maybe they might be necessary, they might not be. um But I think you have to sort of advocate for what, be comfortable advocating for what you think is best. And again, I mean, there are a lot more options, but I think that anytime you're pregnant, right, like nothing's 100% safe, even if they say it is. Right. Right. More. So I think whatever you can do to do less treatment and get by is the best answer. Yeah. The other thing about the complication with the vaccines, and this is like,
00:28:04
Speaker
a whole other thing. It's like there are a lot of shots that you have to take or that you're supposed to take, especially when you live in New York. And I think we have to be mindful of that because that causes that you know that causes platelet drops. So I think just being mindful of like what are your options and can you wait till the pregnancy is over to get vaccines. I know that's been a ah conversation for a lot of people.
00:28:23
Speaker
Right. I know that you know not everybody experiences that platelet drop, but it is it does happen. But I know the studies also show that they do rebound. They'll go back up. you know They might go down for a little bit, but then they will go back up. So you know if you can time things correctly in case that is your issue, on you know that's also helpful.
00:28:45
Speaker
when When you look back and think of yourself pre-pregnancy the first time, is there any kind of advice you would want to give yourself now that you've gone through this? Maybe just faith, like it'll be okay. You know, things have a way of working out.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah, I understand that though, you know, because sometimes when you're going through something like that, you know, your brain starts to take you to worst case scenarios and that's not where you want to be. Absolutely. And also just like not, yeah, I think there's so much unknown. I mean, even if you don't have ITB, I think like, again, I'm saying this, like it's just an added complication or variable, right? like You know you want a healthy but even people who don't have it here where it is the baby going to be healthy is everything gonna be fine after right so then you add an ICP and it just makes it even more stressful because there's more variables or things to think about. So I think it's like people knowing like wow it's really possible to have this like amazing healthy kid that nobody would know that the mom had any health conditions.
00:29:45
Speaker
and that there are a lot of people who nowadays have various health conditions, IGP or not, other autoimmune things or you know kind of cousin diseases or disorders of IGP and have healthy kids.
00:29:57
Speaker
Right. Right. So you're very blessed to have a wonderful healthy child and another one on their way. You know, that's terrific. Yeah. Strange question. But if you could give your baby a superpower, what would that be to navigate his or her life with the ability to heal physically or emotionally?
Hopes for the Future
00:30:20
Speaker
Wonderful. that's That's terrific. That's great. i that is ah That rings true. That's great. I feel like you can't put a price on general healing. and i mean Emotionally, spiritually, physically, I think like we all can use more healing in our lives.
00:30:39
Speaker
Right, right. We can't take the healing of a scratch for granted. There's more healing that needs to be done, like you said, emotionally and physically. So well, is there anything else you would like to contribute? I appreciate everything you've said. This has been terrific. But is there any ah you have any other thoughts that you want to share? No, I mean, if anyone on that's listening on this podcast, you know, wants you know any type of advice or has a question about my experience anyway that might help them with their own pregnancy journey with ITP or or process there, I'm happy to have them reach out. Okay, and they can reach the PDSA with any questions and they can forward them on to Meredith, which is which is one of the wonderful things about our organization. They um really try to connect patients with other patients. Yeah, it's amazing. Especially because when you don't know people who have gone through it,
00:31:34
Speaker
You're not sure what, what it could be or, you know, maybe you've read something, but you don't, you don't know them personally really, or they're not vetted. So I think people that are vetted that are trusted to at least say, Hey, this is what happened to me at everyone's different. You don't know if that will be your story, but it gives hope and it gives like some tech, you know, some context. And so often I think ITP patients are in their own little Island because they, they don't know other people with ITP.
00:32:01
Speaker
And I think the difference with other autoimmune, and again, it's not a comparison to like, Oh, you'd rather have this autoimmune disease versus this one. But I think in general, when you talk about, Oh, I have an autoimmune disease or I have, you know, this chronic illness or whatever, the other ones who get more recognition, maybe they're more common, you know, more people have them. So there's a little bit more people to be like, Oh, when I was pregnant and I had this, this is what I did. I think with ICP and pregnancy in general, because it's rarer than some of these other ones, you naturally have like,
00:32:30
Speaker
Your exposure with people who've been pregnant with ITP is just less than other, ah for doctors, for patients, for caregivers, for, you know, so I think that makes it a little bit more complicated. Yeah, absolutely. Finding the support and feeling like, oh, they really understand this.
00:32:44
Speaker
And especially when you're going through trying times with your ITP, yeah if you know someone else with ITP that you can contact, it's very helpful because in as much as your family and friends love you and support you, they don't know what it's like to be in your shoes. And and whereas another patient really feels that they understand that. And that's like not a blockade when you meet each other. It's like,
00:33:14
Speaker
Hey, we're like soulmates here. We're on the same on the same journey. No, it's a really, it's like really, I actually had become friends with someone to reach out to me through Facebook. She just had a baby and we've connected over ITP and she lives in New York and she happens to be in the medical field as well. And she had kind of connected with me when she was diagnosed because she was thinking about getting pregnant and I was at that point on the other side. And so she wanted to know about it. And now she's checking in on me at this pregnancy now that she's delivered. Hey, how are you doing the second time? So it's really nice to have loved someone who gets it and understands
00:33:49
Speaker
Absolutely. That's great that you've got that friend there and close by. Well, thank you, Meredith. This has been this has been terrific, very enlightening. And I know that being on the journey with ITP, it's important to learn more and more about it um in your
Conclusion and Reflections
00:34:07
Speaker
journey. It makes it a lot easier and especially now for women that are pregnant or contemplating getting pregnant, listening to your story, I'm sure has been very helpful and enlightening to them. So thank you so so much. And we really appreciate it. Of course, thank you so much for having me.
00:34:33
Speaker
Thanks for listening to the PDSA podcast, bruised but not broken, living with ITP. Made possible by our presenting sponsor, Amgen. Special thanks to Gus Mayorga for composing our theme music.
00:34:50
Speaker
To see what's coming up, visit our website at pdsa.org and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Please share this podcast through social media with anyone who you think might benefit from the information and stories we share with the ITP and other platelet disorders community.
00:35:08
Speaker
As always, please speak with a healthcare professional before making any treatment decisions. But know that PDSA dot.org is a wealth of information and resources to help you navigate life with ITP and other platelet disorders.
00:35:24
Speaker
Remember, you are not alone.