As the youngest, a daughter’s bond with her mother is always something special. As I am still growing, up my mom is my best friend. She was always and will always be my number one person and I love her dearly. In October of 2005, my mother was admitted to the hospital for large bruising, petechiae, she could not move, she could not talk, and her body was beginning to shut down. I was only 5 years old, but as any child would be, I was terrified. The doctors ran numerous tests, she was sent to three different hospitals here in Central Texas, and no one knew what was wrong with her body. My father stayed by mother’s side, so my older brother watched my sister and me. With my mother’s condition getting worse, and no one having any answers, the doctors told my father to come let my siblings and I come by and say our goodbyes to her.  Doctors put her on steroids; she had blood transfusions, and bone marrow biopsies over the course of three weeks. She was stable enough to return home, just to get worse and go back to the hospital. Doctors diagnosed her with lupus, then leukemia, then after seeing a specialist, she was diagnosed with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) ITP is a bleeding disorder. People with ITP can bruise or bleed easily than normal.

After learning she had ITP, she was put on numerous medications, had to go back and forth to doctors to have her CBC (complete blood count) checked, and was on this cycle for 10 years. My mother had lots of good and bad days with her ITP. In December of 2014, my mother was very sick. I had come home from a Christmas parade and she was in bed unconscious from the pain she was in. I called 911, and she was taken to the hospital. The doctors had found that her ITP was affecting her immune system, and her platelets were low. What was causing her pain was her gallbladder had gone bad. Her gallbladder was causing her so much pain and it had to be taken out. She was in the hospital for a few weeks and later sent home. From 2005 to 2015 she sent her oldest son to college and had my sister and I making good grades in high school. She could look perfectly fine on the outside, but be feeling terrible inside because her body was attacking itself. In 2015, she had enough and got of the cycle of medication and doctors. She changed her doctors and began chemotherapy. The chemo began to work and things started to turn around for her. Currently today, my mother is in remission, loving life and being a great mother.

Years later and I finally fully understand what ITP means and how it affected my mom. Knowing what my mom had to go through I wanted to do something in honor of her and thank her for being the best mom there is. I am a senior involved in the C.E. Leadership Academy at Ellison High School. In the Leadership Academy, you must complete a senior project that impacts someone or something to graduate with your Leadership stole. My senior project is in dedication and in honor of my mother. I am hosting a 5k run 3k/walk to raise money and awareness for ITP.  As of today, there is no cure for ITP, but hopefully with the funds raise, a cure can be found.