After 134 days, I'm prednisone free

10y after ITP Dx and spleenectomy I crashed from low 300's to 10 in 3 weeks!

134 days of pred (it did nothing but make me irritable, sleepless and hungry. That's twice I've been on it without ANY positive impact. It'll be the last time I accept Pred for ITP treatment.

Two hospital stays (pneumonia and extremely early stage of septic shock) :X

Thrush in my mouth and suspected in stomach

Four Rituxan infusions

Staph infection post hospitalization (Geez - wonder where that came from!)

Count as low as 10

2x/week cbc and daily when hospitalized (thankfully I have good insurance)

9 weeks after starting Rituxan count now in the 270 range (5 of past 6 weeks with a drop of 200 in week 4 of 6 but bounced back in week 5)

Thank You Jesus for Care Givers (all of them) who commit their lives to caring for others, for supportive family and friends, AND PDSA friends who provide a calming perspective when the world seems to be falling apart!

Good for you, Steve! Just goes to show that things can, and do, get better.

Good to see the counts are up Steve!

Glad to see your doing so well Steve! What a ride huh? There is no way I'd be on prednisone that long with no improvement! Your strong! And to your last comment.....Amen!