February 22, 2024
My name is Kellie and I was just 25 years old when I was diagnosed with TTPin 2019. My diagnosis came as a huge shock as I was a healthy fun lovingperson. I was thriving in my life. I was preparing to get married, I’d broughtmy own property, I was at a really great place with my career and owned asuccessful business so to be struck down with this condition out of the bluewas a huge adjustment for me and my family.
I spent a week in hospital and thenhad to take time off of work. I was diagnosed in November 2019 and attempted toget back to work in January 2020 unfortunately this was all to much for me toosoon and I was signed off until May 2020 when I begun working at home due tothe pandemic. During this time I needed a lot of care. I relied on my husbandand my family heavily during this time to take care of me which was reallyupsetting for me as I am such an independent person.
My whole life I have wanted nothingmore than to be a mother. When I was diagnosed with TTP I felt like this wasnow something I would not be able to achieve. I had many lengthy discussionswith my consultant who was nothing but supportive and took into considerationmy wishes of wanting a child. As a young women this was a really daunting and areal emotional roller coaster for me,thinking I’d not be able to be a mother. Iwas advised having a baby would be something that was possible however we wouldneed to plan and prepare for such time. Having to plan so much for a baby sostrictly felt so unfair at my age. Something that should just come so naturaland happen when it happens has to be so planned and carefully thought about andwhen I was told I could begin trying for a baby that put extra pressure ongetting pregnant as I was afraid that I would miss my window of opportunity ifI didn’t begin there and then.
I was worried I would relapse, needtreatment and this would delay me even further. I went a long time with noADAMTS13 trying different treatments. At first Rituxmab did not do much for meso I was put on Azathioprine which was successful in raising my ADAMTS13 andalso was a safe medication to take whilst pregnant. Me and my husband begantrying for a baby once my ADAMTS13 had stayed above 50 with my consultantsapproval.
After 10 months of consistenttrying and 1 miscarriage, me and my husband found out we were expecting. Inotified my consultant of my pregnancy who switched my 3 monthly appointmentsto monthly appointments so he could monitor any changes that may of occurred.My consultant also contacted an obstetrics consultant to set up appointmentswith them so they could all keep a close eye on me. My blood work stayedabsolutely fine during pregnancy, I did not need any intervention during mypregnancy regarding TTP.
I did develop Pre eclampsia at 31weeks but managed to remain medicated on blood pressure medication and stableuntil 37 weeks with no flareup of TTP. My consultants agreed to me having aplanned C section at 37 weeks.I had blood work done a day before my surgery tomake sure everything was stable which it was and surgery went ahead as plannedand was successful. My beautiful baby girl is here, happy healthy and thrivingand I finally have my wish of becoming a mother and have been very well lookedafter by my TTP care team. Anyone who is wanting to become a mother but istrying to navigate this new life with TTP.
Please don’t give up hope and workwith your care team. It is possible and can be managed.
