Rollercoaster World

Rollercoaster World

04.26.04 (3:41 pm)   [edit]
Even after 37 years on this world, it still amazes me how quickly the wheel can turn; one minute you're on top and the next . . .

As noted by my wife on her blog; we were all thrilled last week at the news that my sister-in-law was expecting. She and her husband had been trying for about 3 years to conceive and had finally just about given up when she took a home pregnancy test because she was late. Ironically this was on the final day of her husband's job as a computer graphics designer, as his company had eliminated his local division. He had a generous severance package from his employer and had decided to go freelance, having several prospective jobs lined up. So, it was a bit of an anxious time for them on both fronts, but an exciting one as well.

Then, a few days later, my sister-in-law began to develop symptems of jaundice, which grew more pronounced with each passing day. Her doctors didn't think too much of it and just scheduled her for an early OB/GYN visit and some laboratory blood work, telling her that it wasn't out of the ordinary and that she needed to rest. She continued to feel worse and worse until late yesterday afternoon when she began vomiting severely and her husband took her to the ER, where she was diagnosed with having an extremely rare and potentially fatal blood disease called [b]Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura[/b], or TTP for short. One of the main triggers for this syndrome is pregnancy, as the pregnant woman's hormonal balance is thrown off kilter.

Up until relatively recently, this disorder was fatal in something like 80% of all cases. Today however, that has changed to an incredible 80% survival rate. The main treatement for it is total blood blood plasma exchange, meaning that she has to have all of her blood plasma removed and replaced by plasma from donors. There are a lot of potential complications due to this process and we don't know if or how it will affect her pregnancy, especially this early on (6 weeks).

Time will tell if she's going to respond to the treatment and if she does, there's a very good chance that she'll be cured permanently. There's also (from the site I linked to about the disorder) at least some small hope that the pregnancy will continue unaffected by this unfortunate occurrence.

My thoughts today and for the foreseeable future will be with my sister-in-law and her husband who've both been very good to and supportive of me, even when my wife and I were having our own difficult times in our relationship.


Just before I forget, there were two things of note here at the library today. One is a kid who comes here every day and asks to borrow a calculator frequently. I asked him why he couldn't bring his own in and his reply was that he wasn't allowed to have one at school. (Are they banned like guns are or something?) I pointed out that he didn't need to use it there and that they cost something like $1.99 at the grocery store. To this he replied that his family didn't own one . . . :roll:

Secondly, we had a young man walking around in here today with what appeared to be a Siberian Tiger tail hanging out from the back of his jacket, as if it was growing from him. :shock: The other librarian on duty and I just stared as he passed us several times, apparently making sure that we saw him and his tail. I casually mentioned that perhaps he was a "Furry," but the other librarian, who must lead a more sheltered life than I, didn't know what I meant. :wink: