Story told by Sharon, Kirstie’s Mom
Kirstie’s life before Gardasil was full of so many activities – including dodgeball, games at summer recreation, soccer, basketball and softball. She is also a very talented musician, playing the clarinet, saxophone, ukulele and piano and singing in all of her school’s choruses. Kirstie actively participates in a musical theatre class and her school’s drama club (she has had lead roles in school plays and musicals). Her dream is pursuing a career in vocal performance or a profession involving music. She is an A student with a wide variety of interests. Fortunately the musical side of her life has not been affected by her health problems after Gardasil.
Kirstie had her first vaccine on April 23, 2007 (she was 12) and we saw nothing strange at that time. Within the next few weeks, she began to develop large, dark bruises on her arms and legs, which I attributed to her playing soccer (she was the goalie) and lacrosse. My husband was beginning to worry about the bruises but didn’t say anything to me. On May 29th she received the second shot. Again, the only thing happening was the bruising. On June 17th, she began her second menstrual cycle ever, which lasted 10 days. On June 18th, I took her to the doctor to have her tested for strep throat, which came back negative. The nurse practitioner commented about the bruises and said something about Kirstie playing sports – she was not concerned about them.
On June 29th while at an amusement park, Kirstie started haemorrhaging from her vagina and it lasted for 2 hours. It stopped and then began again the next day, continuously bleeding for 2 hours. On Monday, July 2nd, I got her to her paediatrician’s office and they realized that her platelets were very low (18,000). They immediately sent us to the hospital to meet with a paediatric haematologist who told us that she had Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP).
When I mentioned that the only thing that Kirstie had done differently was having the HPV vaccine, he said he would have to think about this as his granddaughter was scheduled to have her first dose that month. That is the only time he would ever confirm the possibility that the vaccine caused her ITP. Because no one understands what causes ITP and because they believe it could be caused by a virus, the fact that Kirstie was diagnosed with a virus during this time is enough to have the medical professionals believe it was not caused by a vaccine. However, the virus, if it existed, did not appear until after Kirstie was vaccinated.
Throughout that summer, Kirstie’s platelets continued to drop and in late July she received a treatment that boosted her platelet level to normal. It lasted about 30 days and then her platelets were low for the next several months. Kirstie has missed several soccer, basketball and softball seasons because of her ITP. Last year (2010) she missed all seasons and right now her platelets are too low for her to play. She does not suffer from nosebleeds or excessive bruising/bleeding so her condition goes unnoticed unless we have her platelet level checked.
We are very lucky; in the spring of 2010 she developed mono – her platelets did not drop very much and she recovered quickly. Kirstie does not feel ill from ITP – it really only affects her playing contacts sports which are a big part of her life. We naturally hope that her condition will improve and that her health returns to normal and she can get back to doing all of the things she really enjoys.
Carolyn says
August 21, 2012 at 7:04 amWhy did she get tested for strep throat? Did she have a virus at the time, because you don’t usually get tested for that for vaginal bleeding. Could that have been the virus which triggered the ITP? The vaccine is a possibility, yes, but I don’t think it’s the only one.
Sharon says
November 4, 2012 at 7:42 pmCarolyn, she was tested for strep throat in the spring…while she was beginning to bruise up. She was tested for strep throat because she was ill and had a bad sore throat. We don’t know if the virus triggered it or not. and because it occurred during the time of her vaccinations, it remains unclear whether it had any affect on her body or not.
Lisa says
October 12, 2012 at 4:07 pmSharon,
I too have a daughter that developed ITP after the Gaurdasil injection. I began to put everything together after her third injection. After her first one she had heavy bleeding, and began bruising easily we too just said be more careful. After her second she ended up in the hospital with a platelet count of 9,000 still didn’t put it together because it was a week or two after the shot. But after her third she was now being treated for ITP and on prednisone and had had IVIG, her platelets dropped even with this medication that’s when I began to look back and put it together. However at that time, this was in 2007-2008 there was NO information that connected guardasil with ITP. Now I see so many stories that people have developed ITP after the vaccine. Something has to be done to protect our children ITP does NOT go away I can tell you that from experience, my daughter had a perfectly healthy spleen removed to try and boost her platlets it did work for now but she has alot of health issues that effect her everyday because I said yes to this vaccine.
mo ga says
April 12, 2013 at 4:11 amWhat is the prognosis for Kirstie of Lima to have a child? Bleeding is part of childbirth. What can she do about that?
Aus says
May 8, 2013 at 5:18 amHave you the victims tried zeolite to eliminate aluminium the toxin from Gardasil? I haven’t seen any site pursuing the “truth” about this horrible shocking fraud when they don’t even have any evidence to say that HPV is the cause of cervical cancer, recommending to take zeolite to DETOX. Wonder why……
Jesse says
June 16, 2013 at 11:32 pmJust found this, thank you very much for posting. I am a 21YO Male who was diagnosed with ITP about 7 months ago. I have spent much time researching ITP and Gardasil was never mentioned. My platelets have been down to around 9,000, I was given IVIG about 6 months ago but it wore off after a month or so. I was given the Gardasil 3 shot vaccination when I was a sophomore in high school. I too feel fine, but the excessive bleeding, bruising, and swelling at every incident is a hindrance to my active lifestyle, and I believe is getting worse. As a male, playing baseball, soccer, snowboarding, etc I noticed the excessive blood but didn’t think much of it. Only this winter did I get my first CBC and found my platelets low and dropping. I believe the statute of limitations for a claim on the Gardasil vaccine is 3 years. I never liked needles, so of course I didn’t want the shot, I wish I would’ve known the risks and how short a time the FDA took to approve it. I find myself getting a lot more needles now.
Carrie Webb says
June 3, 2015 at 4:58 pmJune 3, 2015 – today after multiple upon multiple visits to the Doctors an ER’s we had our first appointment with an Endocrinologist to have my daughter who is 16 1/2 tested for Hoshimotos… as I am arriving back to work from the doctors visit my daughter sends me Katie’s story, so I read it and I come over to Kirstie’s story… My daughter received this shot last year, BUT the kicker is… we had stressed to her DR at that time we did not want this shot. We make her a regular follow up appointment and follow up in a few short months and low and behold this first dose was given to her… I freaked out, and they said they had forgot we said we didn’t want it nor were we interested in it. The stories of Katie and Kirstie just break my heart because I have watched my daughter go down hill, from being an awesome vibrant girl who once had tons of energy, wanted to do all kinds of things to a little girl laying down, sleeping all the time, vomiting and having to quit school and her job that she was so excited about. I am so sorry to hear that this has affected your beautiful little girl. I am praying that our lab results will reveal the Hoshimotos’s thyroid disease, but I just want my energetic baby girl back, she has such big big dreams. Prayers for Katie and Kirstie, and I hope and pray for God to heal and restore this girls healthy again. I have shared this all over facebook in hopes to save some lives! My daughter is my only daughter and she has two brothers that constantly watch her sleeping and being weak. It’s so so hurtful. God is in the miracle business and I am praying for all of our girls.
Bill Chaffee says
February 15, 2016 at 4:47 amI’ve been lied to by md’s. I think they are lying when they said that they forgot. They receive free trips to hear lectures from big Pharma which are really paid vacations.