Grundy Center family hopes to bring attention to ITP

GRUNDY CENTER – The month of September is National ITP Awareness Month, and one local family is on a mission to bring attention to the rare disorder locally.
Two years ago, Katie Thornton-Lang and her husband Jarrid Lang found out their son Michael, who was 8-years-old at the time, was diagnosed with ITP – a rare disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys platelets in the blood causing excessive bleeding or bruising, and even internal bleeding and brain bleeding in serious cases.
“When we first found out [Michael] had ITP, we didn’t have a clue what it was, or what to do,” said Katie Thornton-Lang.
She says she first discovered something was wrong when Michael came home from wrestling practice with a large, raised bump on his arm. Figuring it was a routine bruise from practice that day, she sent him off to bed. But my morning, another large bruise appeared on her son’s arm, nearly covering it entirely, and Katie became worried, so she took Michael to the hospital to have blood work done.
A normal platelet count is between 150,000 to 450,000, but the results showed Michael’s platelet levels were at 3,000, a dangerously low level.
Michael was then rushed to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, where he underwent one blood transfusion, and then another after his levels crashed to 2,000.
By October of that year, things were looking up. Michael had maintained normal platelet levels, and was declared in remission.
But, less than two months later, his platelets dropped again, and the family was informed that Michael had the chronic form of ITP, which will persist throughout his life.
Since last October, his platelet levels have continued to fluctuate up and down, but so far he hasn’t had to undergo any further treatment, such as a blood transfusion.
Now, with the month of September being National ITP Awareness Month, Katie and her family are hoping to bring awareness to the disorder by sharing their story, and helping others by sponsoring a Pediatric Toy Drive for the Grundy County Memorial Hospital Foundation.
"We wanted to give back locally, because the [Grundy County Memorial] Hospital has done so much for us since Michael was diagnosed,” Katie said. “He gets blood work done there, and they are always take such great care of him, so we thought it would be nice to give something back to them.”
For anyone interested, the hospital is collecting new toys for their youngest patients through an Amazon Wishlist.
Contributors can view the Amazon Wishlist here https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3KLHFZ0NLLX78/ref=cm_sw_em_r... and purchase any of the toys on the list to be delivered directly to the Grundy County Memorial Hospital. Donations by cash and check are also accepted by the Hospital’s Foundation.
“This is just a really simple, easy way to raise awareness about ITP, while saying thank you to an organization that has helped our family so much after Michael was diagnosed,” Katie said.
Katie also invites the public to join her in “Sport Purple for Platelets” day on September 29, where anyone and everyone around the community can wear purple for ITP Awareness.