on stopping nosebleeds and other winter activities

So, a little update since I last posted:

On December 3, as I was getting ready for church, I got one of those hard-to-stop nosebleeds that make us itp'ers feel like all could be lost.

I got it stopped after about an hour, and then went up to the lab to get my blood drawn. Funny little aside, once I finished with the blood draw, I went to church as is my habit. be However, not as habit, I spent the first 40 minutes or Sunday School obsessively (and hopefully inconspicuously) checking my phone tho see if my results had been posted yet. Never done that before!

Platelets came in at 55, and so I chalked it up to dry winter air and went on my way.

A few weeks later, I had another nosebleed. Again I got the CBC done, with a result of 44. Again my doctor and I decided not to treat. I went down the visit family at Christmas, and didn't participate in any of the tubing, ice skating, or skiing options, but otherwise had a normal holiday.

In January I noticed some semi-large bruises, though no nosebleeds. My daughter started ski lessons in January, and between being semi-concerned about the bruising and wanting to know if being able to ski safely was even an option at this point, I got another CBC on January 11. Platelets were at 75!! My levels had gone UP by over 30,000 and I'd done nothing medically to treat my low platelets! I was thrilled, to say the least.

Since then, I've basically been living my life. I try to get 8 hours of sleep each night, and to decrease my stress levels by redirecting my thoughts when I start getting tied in knots over things I can't control. I have been skiing each week when my daughter has her lessons, though I am very slow and careful on those slopes. Actually, that's the way I like to ski anyway, so in some ways, it's nice to have a directive to be careful that I can fall back on.

And that's where we stand for now. I'll take it. 😃