Pump It Up Cranberry Twp PA 2019

Team Natalie

Natalie’s Story

     I was diagnosed with ITP on May 19, 2014 when I was in 5th grade. Up until then, I was a perfectly healthy little girl and enjoyed doing my favorite sport which was competitive gymnastics. I noticed that I had many large, unexplained bruises all over my body that were only getting worse as time went on, so my parents and I decided that it was finally time to go see a doctor.

     The doctor did blood work and took many tests, and later that afternoon I was called out of school and informed by my dad that I needed to go to the emergency room immediately! After many hours, the hematologist came into the room and told me that I had ITP and that I would not be able to do gymnastics until my platelet counts were in a safer place. Not being able to fulfill my passion of gymnastics was the hardest thing for me to hear since I had been a gymnast since I was 3 years old.

     That summer was a difficult adjustment for me because I had to go from my very busy gymnastics schedule to absolutely no physical activity. I spent my days trying to occupy myself by doing a cyber math class, working on jigsaw puzzles, and spending time with my friends. After much begging, my parents agreed to get me a Shih Tzu puppy, named Boomer, to help pass the time. He has helped me get through the toughest of times in my life and I am so grateful that he has been there with me through my journey.

     Throughout my life as a patient, I took steroids on 3 separate occasions and had one IVIG infusion to help increase my platelet counts, but nothing seemed to work long term. We decided to watch and wait to see if my counts would go up on their own. After about 15 months with my life on pause, my platelet counts began to go back up to a safer level and I slowly began to transition back to my normal life and went back to gymnastics again.

     It has now been over five years and I still have ITP, and although my platelet counts are not yet normal, they are in a much safer place. I continue to get blood work every couple of weeks so that I know whether or not I need to take any precautions on my activity. I am still doing competitive gymnastics and began running track, and my favorite companion, Boomer, still puts a smile on my face every time I see him.

     Five years ago, I learned the definition of ITP, but I do not let it define me. I want to increase the awareness of this disease and share my story with other children, so that they can know that other kids their age support them, and to help them understand that they’re not alone. In the past three years of participating in this walk, my team has raised nearly $5,000 and my goal is to continue increasing awareness to ITP in the years to come.

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