Meeting the way I would likely die
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Something was wrong. My hair was changing. My skin was changing. I just didn’t feel good. I caught every cold that walked through the door, and once they came to visit, they were very hard to shake. Yes...something was wrong.
My doctor sent me to various specialists in an attempt to solve the mystery. She finally said that perhaps it was stress. My job and life were very stressful. I thought she might be right. Si I transferred to a city 1600 miles away and moved across the country. Five months later, I was in the hospital with a platelet count of 4,000 and hemoglobin of 8. After a few days, I was given the diagnosis of Evans Syndrome, which consists of autoimmune hemolytic anemia and idiopathic thrombocytopenia.
They gave me IVIg and IV steroids, with oral steroids following discharge from the hospital. I started to respond but then relapsed. So my doctor and I decided to try Rituxan. I got four infusions and then we waited. After about 6 weeks, we started seeing improvements in my counts. Remission came and stayed.
That was 2005. As of this writing, I am still in remission. I do have Lupus, so I have other problems, but Evans Syndrome has stayed away.
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