Well Facebook family, todays the day Im going to tell you that Ive been in the hospital all week. No, Im not trying to brag or be a narcissist. And no, this isnt one of my jokes. This is the best way to inform a lot of you all at once. And I kind of regret not telling you sooner, as something bad could have really happened here. I went in to the hospital again last Sunday night with a different kind of chest pain than what I felt last week when I thought I was having a heart attack. But my heart is doing just fine. It turns out, I have a rare blood disorder/autoimmune disease known as TTP, the idiopathic kind. It took many smart doctors to figure this out in just a few short days. They were racing against time as my blood numbers were slipping in the wrong direction fast. After a quick blood transfusion on Monday to keep my head above water, they immediately started me on a process called plasmapheresis. Basically, they take blood out of my body, spin out the bad plasma, inject good plasma (7 liters each day from many wonderful American Red Cross donors), and put it back into my body. This was done for 5 days straight. Wait until I tell you about this experience some day. Wow! (Probably the next KupMuff Show, so stay tuned.) Any way, Im not out of the woods yet. Today is the first day I will not have the treatment, so we can see how my blood is reacting on its own. If the numbers move in the wrong direction, we go back to doing plasmapheresis. If they go in the right direction, obviously, I get closer to going home. Here are a couple of neat/weird/odd/strange facts about TTP that I plucked from Wikipedia, as the whole article will bore you off of your seat if I shared it: 1. The incidence of TTP is about 4 to 5 cases per million people per year. 2. Up until the 1990s, the mortality rates were found to be very high. (90%) 3. Since 2001, plasmapheresis has been used to treat this type of disorder. -My doctor says, 70% of patients that receive this treatment are cured. The other 30% that relapse receive the treatment again, and then are usually cured. -Sorry haters, but you gotta be waiters. Ok, so as you can see, when I hurt, I go quiet on social media. But now Im back, spewing it all out for you to know. No, Im not at 100%, but Im getting close. I appreciate the love and support Ive received from those of you who knew about this already. Im sure some of you are about to ask where I am and if you can come visit. And Im going to regretfully decline, as I dont want to increase traffic flow on the ICU floor of the hospital. Instead, wait until I get home and come visit me there. And if that wait makes you too antsy, then take a trip for me over to your nearest American Red Cross, and donate blood as soon as you can. Because I learned this week how very important it is having an available blood supply for a plethora of reasons. Im pretty sure youre going to be hearing this request a lot more about this from me. I love you all and have a great day. PS - Im now 17 days smoke-free. And as soon as I get on a scale, Ill tell you how many lbs Im down. Im guessing its going to be at least 20.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 17:51:59 +0000
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