Laura Hamilton recalled how she looked down in the shower to discover huge bruises on her legs, which led to a horrifying diagnosis.
The Channel 4 presenter, 38, who hosts A Place in the Sun, said she was stunned when she saw the huge bruises, as she had no idea where they had come from.
She told The Mirror how she noticed the blemishes when her daughter Tahlia was just a baby, remarking: “It was terrifying.”
Laura explained: “When Tahlia was about seven months old, I was due to drive to Portugal to film a fitness app, but a few days before I was due to go I started noticing all this bruising coming out on my legs.”
Laura, who had been on a very strict diet at the time and had cut out carbs and sugar, wondered if the bruises were a direct result of her eating habits.
Laura Hamilton opened up on her terrifying diagnosis (Image: Instagram)
She said: “At first I wondered if the bruises might have been caused by my diet.
“I was always someone who bruised quite easily anyway, but it was more than normal.”
After days of worrying about the bruises, Laura decided to confide in her mother-in-law who guessed it could be a blood disorder and ordered her to go and see a doctor.
Laura said: “I had a huge bruise under my elbow. The doctor was asking where they’d all come from and if I had any recollection of banging myself.”
Laura noticed loads of bruises all over her legs while she was in the shower
Her GP had the same concerns as her mother-in-law and sent her to the hospital for blood tests.
When the results came back, they showed Laura’s blood platelet levels – which help blood to clot and allow wounds to heal – were dangerously low.
A normal platelet count is between 400 and 140 K/uL. Laura’s was only 23.
The Channel 4 presenter made the mistake of Googling what the bruises meant (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Women in Film and TV)
“The doctor explained that when platelets drop below a certain point, you’re at risk of internal haemorrhaging and bleeding on the brain,” she recalled.
Laura was diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an autoimmune condition which causes the body to attack its own platelets.
A few days later, Laura had a follow-up appointment and was about to start the course of steroids, but there was a surprise in store for the medics in charge of her care.
“Unbelievably, just as I was due to start the course of steroids, my platelet count started improving by itself and I didn’t end up having to take the medication,” she said.
But Laura knows the condition could return any time. She shared: “Once you’ve had ITP, it’s always there, so after you’ve had a flare-up it can happen again.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
