Born on St. Patrick’s Day, Sean Putt turned nine on Monday. This past week the little boy with Chronic ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura) was hoping for higher numbers in his platelets when he made his weekly trip to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for his regular blood work and treatment. Since beginning this regiment of an experimental drug for his ITP, his numbers have run the gamut from 72 thousand down to 6 thousand.
“I just focus on the week we’re in and hope for good numbers,” said Sean’s mom, Trisha Putt. “We are always shooting to stay above 50 thousand because that’s where he needs to be in order for this treatment to be considered effective.”
But Sean Putt’s platelets did a nose dive, dropping down to three thousand. “Anything below ten thousand has a zero clotting factor,” explained Trisha Putt. “He can’t even get a bruise without us worrying about internal bleeding.”
How does a child with ITP celebrate turning nine? His parents decided to go through with the laser tag birthday party at the Kroc Center in Ashland on Friday to kick-off his birthday weekend. One parent was watching him at all times to make sure he didn’t get bumped, knocked down, or hurt. Watching him play, you would never know he was sick. In a way, that’s a problem because he looks so normal, but one fall could send him to the hospital for transfusions.
“Because of his treatment, he can’t have transfusions right now. It will just make him seriously sick,” his mother explained. It just gives her one more thing to worry about.
As a Fighting Irish fan whose birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day and whose grandparents on his mother’s side came over from Ireland, Sean takes his Irish side seriously with an Irish-themed birthday and a Fighting Irish helmet cake. Friends and family hope his Irish luck holds out and he can continue to fight this disease and eventually win.
“We have so much support and prayers for Sean. No one wants to beat this disease more than Sean does,” said Trisha Putt.
Over spring break he will undergo another bone marrow aspiration. That will determine whether or not he needs a bone marrow transplant or his spleen removed. If he needs a bone marrow transplant, friends and family will be tested to see if they’re a match for Sean’s bone marrow.
“We’ll have his younger brother tested,” said Trisha Putt, “because he’d be the obvious match, though Colin hates needles.” If Colin’s not a match, then they will have to solicit others for a match.
A bone marrow transplant could mean months in the hospital, where a splenectomy would mean weeks in the hospital, so the Putt’s know it’s going to be a long process ahead of them either way.
See how Richland County Children’s Services responded to Sean Putt’s story in article below.
