This has a been a week of medical acronyms that makes me so happy to have a very attentive husband and a Biomedical Engineer as my best friend. Techie baby woke up about a week ago in pain. His legs were hurting really bad, and he couldn't walk much at all. It really alarmed us! He was on some new decongestant medication, so we thought that it was related to that. We stopped that medication, and gave him ibuprofen every 8 hours to combat the pain. By Sunday, blotches began to appear on his legs, and he was scratching like crazy. This made me very alarmed, so I started to research. I found an illness called purpura (bleeding under the skin), and I really didn't want to believe it so I stopped researching. I called the doctor first thing on Monday, and all of my men went off to the doctor's appointment while I was at work. My husband promptly called me to tell me ITP was the initial diagnosis. ITWHAT! ITP is idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenic purpura, and the first word has a definitions that no one wants to hear about any illness - without apparent cause; describes a disease or disorder that has no known cause. Can you believe that? This was not what I wanted to hear on the call. So a solution of steriods is pretty much the only solution. Oh, and OTC pain killers which we were doing already.
At least there was an outcome and a solution, but it was a bit much to digest for a Monday morning. We just kept him comfortable the whole day. So, by Tuesday morning, his left eye was almost swollen shut. I thought maybe a bite, and my husband thought maybe he got something in his eye that irritated it. We started the pain killer routine, and he started to move around like his independent self. By Wednesday morning, he woke up with 3 or so huge bumps all over his head. And, it seemed that he didn't have his balance when he tried to walk. That sent me into SuperMommie mode. We started packing up for a day at the hospital. I sent off necessary emails and texts to make sure people knew what was going on, and sent prayer requests to my warriors. We took Aaliyah to Kindergarten and headed off to the hospital.
When we made it to the emergency room, the initial nurse says if his doctor mentioned HSP as a possibility. We just looked at each other. Then, the doctor comes in and says the same thing. We were dumbfounded, and started researching. I emailed my best friend, and Future started researching on his phone. HSP is Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP, Anaphylactoid Purpura), and they both said that this is exactly what Frederick was going through over the past few weeks or so. Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a form of blood vessel inflammation or vasculitis. Classically, HSP causes skin rash, pain in the abdomen, and joint inflammation (arthritis). Symptoms usually last approximately a month. Recurrences are not frequent but do occur.
After hearing this, we were a little relieved, but still scared of the acronyms. Frederick had a CAT scan and was hooked up to an IV. He didn't like any of that, and I knew that it was going to be tough. This is a little blessing that has to be fully dressed at all times with even his socks and shoes most days. For him to just be in underwear with no pool or bath tub was very unnerving. He finally calmed down after a few minutes of fits, and then he immediately went to sleep in the hospital. Future and I were relieved again to see him resting comfortably.
Another hour goes by, and the doctor comes back to visit with results. "Viral Infection" is what he and our pediatrician felt was going on. The viral infection was triggering his body's inflammatory system to react everywhere. The inflamed spots were his head, joints, feet, and possibly his ears (Future figured that one out). All of this means, yet another treatment plan of just pain killers.
I am so happy that God always has a plan. For the past two months, we have had a lot of ups and downs because of Techie Baby's body just not treating him right. This is how God's plan works. We started the process of getting The Twizzles in school recently. One of those appointments for qualifying for school resulted in a bad hearing exam for Techie Baby. That hearing exam started a series of appointments that resulted in this viral infection. If we wouldn't have gotten the bad hearing exam, then we may not have known until too late that whatever virus was taking over our blessing's body. Thank you God for all that you do!
Sharing three of our blessings with the world: Aaliyah, Future, and Frederick!
Supermommie,
ReplyDeleteJust read your post today. Four years ago, our youngest daughter had a bout with ITP. We began to notice small red dots around her eyes and ankles. She also developed black welps in her mouth that sent over over the top. Small bruises were also found on her ankles. When it was diagnosed, her platelet count was way low (around 6000, normal is 240K to 400K). After an overnight stay at the local children's hospital, it was 20K and she went home. The next week, it was 200K. Our doctor, who is a believer as well, said prayer was the only answer! Amen to that! For the next 6 months, she went in for blood work, then was released from the doctor's care with a clean bill of health.
Fast forward to yesterday. As we were getting ready for church, my wife told me there were a number of bruises on our youngest daughter's ankles again. We scheduled an appointment with the doctor, fearing another bout of ITP. As it turned out, her platelet count is normal, and the doctor suspects HSP this time. Fortunately, as you said, it simply must run its course.
Like you, I'm tired of the "scary alphabet"-- but thankful my little doll is doing well. God bless!