When a bruise appears on our body, usually we don’t have to be worried. When you bump your shin against a table, a bruise will appear. But in some cases they can be linked with something more serious.
What will happen if you wake up with bruises all over your body? Unfortunately the answer is not pleasant at all.
This happened to 37-year-old Thea Wilson!
- After going out the previous evening, Wilson woke up to discover these.
She didn’t drink alcohol, so she was aware that she didn’t fall down the stairs. She maybe experienced a few slight bumps on the dance floor.
- When the bruises didn’t disappear after some time, she visited a doctor.
At the beginning, the doctors thought she had a problem with her platelets. To find out if she had possible platelet disorders, they ran a bone marrow biopsy.
- They discovered that she had a rare form of cancer.
This condition causes the immature blood cells to crowd someone’s bone marrow and prevents the healthy blood cells to be produced. It is known as “acute promyelocytic leukemia.”
- So how does someone so young end up with this dangerous disease?
Approximately one in 250,000 Americans will get acute promyelocytic leukemia in their lifetime. This disease is not genetic, but the patients are born with the cell conditions to bring it about because the problem begins after conception.
If it is triggered it can have awful, life-threatening effects.
- The lack of white blood cells causes infections and slower healing.
With fewer platelets, the blood cannot clot easily, which can cause severe internal bleeding.
- In Wilson’s case, she had only nine platelets instead of 140 to 400.
She found out that a simple fall while riding a horse or running could have made her bleed to death. The only sign of her disease were the bruises and bad mood for a couple of months.
- But the doctors have discovered the disease in time so now the disease is in remission.
This type of leukemia is the most fatal type, but fortunately it’s one of the most curable. After 5 months of chemo and a derivative of Vitamin A called All Trans Retinoic Acid, Wilson was able to recover completely and regain her active life.
Source: http://diply.com