What it is and why it occurs
Platelets are cells that make your blood clot when you bleed. Chemotherapy can lower the number of platelets because it affects your bone marrow’s ability to make them. A low platelet count is called thrombocytopenia. This condition may cause bruises (even when you have not been hit or have not bumped into anything), bleeding from your nose or in your mouth, or a rash of tiny, red dots.
Ways to manage
Do:
Brush your teeth with a very soft toothbrush
Soften the bristles of your toothbrush by running hot water over them before you brush
Blow your nose gently
Be careful when using scissors, knives, or other sharp objects
...Surrounded by taller, decidedly more modern structures, the Solidaridad Bookshop stands along Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila, as welcoming as it did when it first opened its doors in 1965. The big glass windows usher you into a space filled with both foreign literary titles and a wealth of Philippine publications. By the cash register, one sees an impressive selection of Solidaridad proprietor F. Sionil Jose’s expansive bibliography. It’s wall to wall books. There is no Wi-Fi.
On the mostly wooden building’s third floor is a bust of Jose himself by sculptor Julie Lluch, and the resemblance is uncanny, particularly now that Jose himself – known to friends as “Frankie” – is standing next to it. Lluch even got Jose’s ubiquitous beret down pat.
Except that Jose says it’s not meant to be so ubiquitous. The beret isn’t an affectation, he adds, as he removes his headgear to display a bald pate. “I don’t have protective covering anymore,” he says, running his hands over his head. He catches a cold so easily that he needs to don a beret to ward off the chill, even at home. “I don’t wear it during the summer.”