What to say? I write for fun, because I have these ideas that I want to get out, and, especially at the beginning, I would write to help me cope with stress (dealing with a recalcitrant chronic illness). Much of my early writing was produced in a prednisone-haze (an amazing drug but one with incisive side effects). I write for myself and prospective readers are free to read or not read anything that I have published; I make no claim on your time or your pocketbook.

I have a rare blood disorder, ITP (immuno-thrombocytopenia purpura). If you want information on this disorder, read on.

Occurrence rates for adults are somewhere between three to five people per million. It's not an infection, although a poorly informed news media will sometimes report it as such, nor is it contagious. It's not related to life-style choices. It's an immune disorder in which a person makes antibodies to their own platelets and the body then filters out and destroys these platelets. Platelets are our primary clotting factor (this is not hemophilia -- that is (usually) a genetically inherited disorder more common that ITP in which the patient is missing one of several other clotting factors that work with the platelets to clot blood -- also a very serious disorder)

Lisa Blount who was in An Officer & a Gentleman, died from complications related to her ITP, Jamie Baker, a top Scottish tennis player manages his with on-going treatment and Jonathan Davis, the front man of Korn, was diagnosed in 2006 -- he wrote several songs about his journey and has reported that he is doing well now.

It's a pretty clear diagnosis -- it shows up brilliantly in a Complete Blood Count and in the absence of other illnesses such as hepatitis, Hodgkin's (among other forms of cancer), HIV, lupus, etc. all of which can have thrombocytopenia as a symptom, sometimes caused by treatment, sometimes by the illness, but not as a stand-alone disorder. When I read of the journeys of other ITP patients, I seem to be pretty typical. We often feel very alone because there are so few of us and very few people have heard of this condition. I've been down to no platelets several times despite a splenectomy, three IVG infusions, eight Rituxin infusions, and several different prolonged high-dose steroid treatments. I've had a couple of hospitalizations with this (ER's jump when you come in with no platelets) and have been confined to the house a couple of times because one of the treatments involves the destruction of the immune system (in the hope that it will regenerate and behave properly). It took me about three years to stabilize but I live with the awareness that it can and probably will return at some point.

I'm responding to treatment at the moment (but am not in remission -- still on heavy duty medications) and have reluctantly elected to retire from my job (after 40 years) to reduce the exposure to opportunistic infection (having an immune disorder and a splenectomy permanently compromises your immune system). I began writing during one of the prednisone trials (I was taking 60 mg/day and was only sleeping four hours out of twenty-four).

To finish off, I watched Dark Shadows, Tom Baker's Dr. Who and Star Trek first run, so you do the math. Never wrote fanfiction until OUAT and the prednisone-induced insomnia intersected. Have met the nicest people and am having loads of fun. txm