Avianca’s Story

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) care at Niswonger Children’s Hospital

Avianca loves Barbies. “I probably have 10,” she says. “I have three Barbie cars, one Dream House, and a swimming pool. I have baby Barbies, I have grown-up Barbies, I have Barbies where their feet are flat and I have Barbies where they’re on their toes.” Fortunately, Avianca’s care at Niswonger Children’s Hospital for a blood disorder that causes severe bruising allows her to continue to enjoy her Barbie-world, cooking and playing on her family farm.

Among all her Barbie dolls, Avianca even has a doctor-Barbie. She’s become quite familiar with the profession since being diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) when she was 5.

ITP is a blood disorder in which the immune system mistakenly targets and destroys platelets. Platelets are cells in the blood that play an important role in blood clotting and preventing excessive bleeding. People with ITP are prone to bruising and bleeding, such as nosebleeds or bleeding gums.

Avianca’s first symptoms were large, “angry purple” bruises. They didn’t hurt like typical bruises. And when her parents, Frik and Elizabeth, asked what might have caused them, Avianca didn’t have a clue. But they were so widespread and looked alarming enough that her parents took her to urgent care. They were immediately sent to Niswonger Children’s Hospital where she was diagnosed with ITP and treated with intravenous immune globulin (IVIG).

Avianca wasn’t thrilled about getting poked with needles, but it was a necessary treatment. Those large, purple bruises, which she now calls purpuras, were literally where the blood was pooling under her skin. Her platelet counts were dangerously low and treatment would dramatically slow the destruction of platelets. Luckily, “all the staff, nurses and doctors couldn’t have been any more helpful or friendly,” Elizabeth says.

“Because of this experience at the hospital, now she knows everything about doctors,” her father Frik says with a laugh.

Avianca’s condition is monitored with monthly blood checks. If her platelets are low, she returns to Niswonger Children’s Hospital for another dose of IVIG. The injections take eight to 10 hours and require an overnight stay in the hospital. But she’s getting used to them.

Her parents have found that she has fewer purpuras when she eats better and avoids sugar. And while she enjoys a sweet treat from time to time, she has gained an interest in healthy cooking. She enjoys making salads and her grandmother’s South African staple — curry and rice. “It has carrots, it has corn, it has chicken sauce, it has meat,” she says. “And it has curry, which is … I don’t really know what curry is, but I like it.”

Because Avianca is prone to excessive bleeding, she has to be careful not to injure herself. That’s not easy for a girl like Avianca who loves to play on the family farm in Bluff City, Tennessee, with her younger brother, Skye. But she manages just fine with her Barbie dolls and by “doctoring” her friends and neighbors.

“Because of this experience at the hospital, now she knows everything about doctors,” her father Frik says with a laugh.

“I don’t know how to do shots,” Avianca corrects.

“But you give them pretend shots, right?” her father says.

Avianca considers this for just a moment, “I just pinch them,” she says, “and then I say, ‘That’s it. Now you’re OK!’”

Want to learn more about Niswonger Children’s Network?

The Niswonger Children’s Network is dedicated to improving the health and future of the Appalachian Highlands through expert pediatric care so that we can share more heartwarming stories like Avianca’s.

Read more Niswonger Children’s Stories here.