Sick nephew

My six-year-old nephew, who spent the weekend in the hospital, has been diagnosed with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks and destroys blood platelets. Idiopathic means the disorder has no known cause.

Jake’s doctor treated him with a IV of gamma globulin, which stimulated new platelet production. He was released yesterday, his platelet count back to normal. According to the NIH, “[a]bout 85 percent of children recover within 1 year and the problem doesn’t return.”