“Extremely low platelets?”
My 84 year old father has 1000 platelets after having a transfusion a few days ago. Two days before that he had started coughing up blood. He went to his cancer doctor and the doc said his xrays on his lungs were clear but he had ZERO platelets hence the transfusion. Since then he has stopped coughing up blood and has no cough. He had chemo years ago for kidney cancer and has had low platelets since that time. He also mentioned he had blood in his urine. Which I believe has also stopped since the transfusion. He also has a pacemaker.
This morning I had to take him to the ER because he had severe pain in his wrist going up his arm into his armpit. Xrays were clear, no breaks (no fall, the pain woke him at 2 am) The doctor "thought" it might be blood in the wrist joint but otherwise had no idea.
I also noted on the left side of his face under his eye to his nose is a slight red/purple marking of 1 inch by 1 inch, which was not there yesterday.
My questions are;
1) How long might he have to live? Days, weeks, months?
2) What happens to the body with such low platelets?
3) What are things I need to be on the lookout for? (Will know see signs of his body shutting down?)
4) Will there come a point where even with transfusions he will have fewer and fewer platelets?
Thank you for taking the time to help me.
This morning I had to take him to the ER because he had severe pain in his wrist going up his arm into his armpit. Xrays were clear, no breaks (no fall, the pain woke him at 2 am) The doctor "thought" it might be blood in the wrist joint but otherwise had no idea.
I also noted on the left side of his face under his eye to his nose is a slight red/purple marking of 1 inch by 1 inch, which was not there yesterday.
My questions are;
1) How long might he have to live? Days, weeks, months?
2) What happens to the body with such low platelets?
3) What are things I need to be on the lookout for? (Will know see signs of his body shutting down?)
4) Will there come a point where even with transfusions he will have fewer and fewer platelets?
Thank you for taking the time to help me.
Male | 84 years old
Complaint duration: Years
Conditions: Extremely low platelets
2 Answers
1) How long might he have to live? Days, weeks, months? Sir, no one can tell you how long you have to live. A better question is what do /you want to do to continue this life experience? You see Sir, we are energy because wwe are created from an Atom, and the definition of energy is neither created nor destroy, just transformed. Now, what is the definition of matter? It is neither created nor destroy, just transformed. Having said that, time is whatever you want to do, and a concept which is linear here down on earth. We don’t die, our energy continues. We just must live the present, enjoy the things you do at every moment because we change from energy to matter for experiences here on earth and go back to universe as energy with those experiences. This is very deep and maybe philosophical, but a reality. We are part of the universe and are intrinsically entangled with it. See your present and enjoy. As a physician, I would never tell anybody you have such and such time to live because energy just it is transformed. The analogy is the water; water is gas, liquid, and ice. If you live a block of ice outside the freezer, it will turn to liquid, and gas.
2) What happens to the body with such low platelets? When the body have low platelets, the bleeding time, to form a clot becomes longer and you can bleed longer causing anemia. Mostly, Iron deficiency anemia. In addition, it can cause excessive bruising, bleeding from the gums, or nose, fatigue, and difficult breathing.
3.) What are things I need to be on the lookout for? Fatigue, easy bruising, abnormal bleeding from nose, gums, purplish red rash on the skin, especially if you fall or hit any area hard, and bleeding excessively after a cut.
4) Will there comes a point where even with transfusions he will have fewer and fewer platelets? The short answer is no. Now, multiple transfusions, can have complications such as febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reaction (PTNHTR), allergic and anaphylaxis, purpura, and transfusion associated circulatory overload.
Any procedure is done in a hospital setting which you are going to be in good hands. Hope I help you and answered all the questions you asked. Remember, life is an experience, and we have to be thankful, happy and enjoying any minute of it. Thank you.
2) What happens to the body with such low platelets? When the body have low platelets, the bleeding time, to form a clot becomes longer and you can bleed longer causing anemia. Mostly, Iron deficiency anemia. In addition, it can cause excessive bruising, bleeding from the gums, or nose, fatigue, and difficult breathing.
3.) What are things I need to be on the lookout for? Fatigue, easy bruising, abnormal bleeding from nose, gums, purplish red rash on the skin, especially if you fall or hit any area hard, and bleeding excessively after a cut.
4) Will there comes a point where even with transfusions he will have fewer and fewer platelets? The short answer is no. Now, multiple transfusions, can have complications such as febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reaction (PTNHTR), allergic and anaphylaxis, purpura, and transfusion associated circulatory overload.
Any procedure is done in a hospital setting which you are going to be in good hands. Hope I help you and answered all the questions you asked. Remember, life is an experience, and we have to be thankful, happy and enjoying any minute of it. Thank you.
Probably has nothing to do with the old cancer. Sounds like immune thrombocytopenia-- would try ivig or rituximab. May also need a bone marrow to r/o a marrow problem, and lastly, check what medications have been recently started.
Rene Rothstein Rubin, MD
Rene Rothstein Rubin, MD
