Life has a way of making you feel like a fool. My last blog post was about finding our stride after a shaky start to the school year. Well, little did I know what was waiting just ahead for us. Miguel and I kissed our boys goodbye, which it must be noted our leaving barely registered with them because oh. my. gosh. Uncle Bo and Aunt La are here! At our house in Dallas! Anyway, we kissed them goodbye and drove to Houston for Miguel’s best friend’s wedding. Miguel was the best man in the wedding, and I was eagerly looking forward to three nights of uninterrupted sleep and breakfast in bed each morning.

Long story short…less than 24 hours after our arrival in Houston, Miguel was in the ER of The Methodist Hospital with a critically low platelet count. In fact it was so low, the original result of 2 was considered “exaggerated” by his hematology team. A normal platelet count is around 150-400. After lots of tests, the internationally renowned hematologist and his groupies (aka. fellows) determined Miguel had ITP. Over the course of 4 days he received IVIG, mega doses of steroids, and one transfusion of platelets. All of that only brought his platelet count to 29, and we were discharged to come back to Dallas with strict instructions to follow up with a hematologist.

And, yes, he missed the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. I went to the wedding, and it was beautiful. I only wish Miguel could have been there with me instead of in the hospital.

Now here we are more than 2 weeks into this new diagnosis, and Miguel’s platelet count is steadily decreasing rather than increasing. As of Monday, it was 17, and steroids were started again. We have full confidence in our hematologist at UT Southwestern in Dallas, but she is stumped. She feels we aren’t dealing with “ordinary ITP,” but something else as well. If her determination to figure out Miguel’s complicated case is measured in the number of tubes of blood she has drawn from him in the past 2 weeks, I would say that she is one incredibly determined doctor.

Up next week is the routine weekly lab work, a bone marrow biopsy, and hopefully a few answers. Through all of this Miguel has physically felt good and continues to go to work every day, and for that we feel very blessed.

So, I’ve learned my lesson. Never again will I mention hitting my stride, finding a routine or in general enjoying the status quo thank you very much.