Fifth disease??

[KarenC]

Originally posted by Lachesis00
I have a birth defect called Thrombosidapenia with Absent Radius Syndrome. The first part is low platelets. They run around 60,000 but can and will drop if I get ill. They dropped to under 2,000.
I flew to Seattle (Alaska is not equipped for Platelet problems) and the doctor was *such* a jerk!!! He was ragging on me for "whining" and I wasn't *dying* at 2,000. {I could have bled internally} I mean don't you KNOW people have AIDS and Cancer and their platelets are low ALL the time? He didn't comprehend we had no blood bank in Alaska (well SE Alaska) and while he was a hematologist, he didn't comprehend the situation AT all. I refused to leave {Seattle} (almost a month) until they came up to reasonable levels for me.

I am so sorry to hear that.

My hemotologist has a lot of self confidence. I think that's a good thing. Because what I had is fairly rare, and my reaction to treatments even rarer, I wasn't exactly easy to fix. He took me as a professional challenge. I think someone who was less sure of themselves could end up being a jerk to their patients who aren't textbook cases to fix. (My husband and I just had this conversation while waiting to see my doctor this afternoon, then I come back and read your post and I'm thinking, yes, like this doctor.)

I sure got the idea that low platelets over an extended period of time weren't a good thing. The insurance company didn't even question the 15 days I've been in the hospital over the past 3 1/2 weeks--all the hospital did was fax the platelet count and they agreed that's where I needed to be. My first bill was $37,000 just for the hospital, not the doctors. I'm sure if they could have found a way to justify my being at home, they would have.

You really have to be your own advocate for your own health care. And after reading this thread I am convinced there's a need for a vaccine against Fifth Disease!

 

[KarenC]

Originally posted by luvwinnie
KarenC, I have an autoimmune disorder (not ITP) and was worried when my co-worker's son had this a few weeks ago. I was so worried SHE would get it and pass it on to me. So far, so good. So sorry you have ha d such a rough time.

I didn't even know I had any auto-immune issues until the ITP showed up after the Fifth Disease. Now they tell me that there's a theory that the pre-eclampsia is auto-immune related, but no one really knows what causes that.

I didn't pass the Fifth Disease along to any coworkers when I got it back in June. I was so worried because the woman in the office next to me is trying to get pregnant, but adults usually don't get it very easily. In fact, my daughter had it 8 years ago and neither my son nor I caught it from her then. My brother is an internist/pulmonologist and has been practicing medicine for about 18 years. He'd NEVER seen a case of Fifth Disease, until me. His wife, who is a pediatrician, see it all the time.

I caught it about 2 weeks after my son first had symptoms. Hopefully by now your coworker would have already been sick if she was going to get it. The nasty thing is you don't know you're contagious when you are--the symptoms show up too late!

 

[Lachesis00]

I am still at a loss how my hematologist was for AIDS and Cancer, neither which I have. I realize they are serious diseases (he made it sound like my case was nothing) but I was really scared. It was the first time as an adult I had been that sick. I don't know if my local doctor pulled a name out of the air or what but it was a terrible situation.

My birth defect is rare. I think at last count there were less then 300 people alive who were born with it. I am one of the oldest.

As I hit adulthood the platelets were suppose to go up but they never did. It's OK b/c my body adjusted as it's a life long diease... I just have to be ultra careful when I get ill. They will drop to 20,000 with the cold or flu, which I am better adjusted then most people but... it still isn't something to mess around with.

 

[raysnkaysmom]

I was under the impression that if you have fifths disease, you carry it forever, it just doesn't always expose itself.
And...it is true about exposure to pregnant women. My old boss miscarried, and her doctor asked her if she had been exposed to any child with fifths disease, and it turned out the girl she was babysitting had it
It can cause mild birth defects, and miscarriages

 

[justhat]

Originally posted by bananiem
If your dd has been around any pregnant women just before breaking out you will want to tell them they've been exposed. Tell them to contact their doctor to get a blood test if they don't know if they've had it or not. I had to do this when I was pregnant since I worked in a child care center. The fetus can be harmed if the mother contracts it during the pregnancy.

I also worked in a daycare when I was pregnant and had to be tested for Parvovirus. Luckily it was negative and no one caught it by the time I quit before my daughter was born. It can be very dangerous for pregnant women.