Platelets

Last Monday I went for a yearly 'anxiety' check-up with my Dr. We discussed a few things and he decided that he should check my thyroid levels. It is very common for women- especially as they get older (thank you very much) to have thyroid imbalance. I thought it was a good idea and had wondered many times if it coulod be the cause of all my stress (ha! ha!). It's a simple test- just a little blood draw. And since they were drawing my blood anyway they gave me a package deal and ran 5 different labs. I don't remember what all of them were, but I was concerned about possible anemia and also curious about my cholesterol levels. I was told they'd have the results in 1-3 days.

By the time Friday rolled around (5 days later) I was tired of waiting. So I called the Dr. myself. To my surprise everything was normal. My cholesterol, the nurse said was 'perfect'. Also, no anemia as my red blood cell count was normal. Likewise for my white blood cell count. Everything was fine and dandy... except for my platelet count.

Apparently I have a low number of platelets. In fact, I have a count of 53, when 140 is considered normal.

HELLO!? What the heck does that mean?

Basically it explains why I bruise very easily and why the bruises don't heal very fast. It also explains why my gums sometimes bleed when I brush. (No Mom, it's not gingivitis) The platelets are what help the blood to clot and I don't have enough so it takes longer.

We were pretty worried, but I remembered that my WBC was normal so that put to rest other fears. After chatting with the Dr. he decided to re-check in a month and see where the count is. Waiting that long will give them a good idea of any changes that may take place. As for right now they have diagnosed me with- Thrombocytopenia. Which basically means 'low platelets'.

In a month they'll try to figure out why?

But for now, we sit, and wait, and try to to bump into things. ;o)

p.s.- we were freaked out at first, but now we're ok. We'll keep you posted on my medical mystery. ;o)