The joys of parenting:
My oldest recently ticked 9. One day we noticed her legs had these red spots all over. We figured it was an allergic reaction to something - detergent, new sheets on the bed, whatever. A few days later it appeared worse rather then better, so we were getting a little worried. Then on a Saturday afternoon, she suddenly collapsed and started crying about how bad her legs hurt.
I take her to the closest Urgent Care (It's $150 just to walk into the hospital, so Urgent Care seems like a better option at this point.) The doctor looks her over and points out that her ankle and knee joints are all swollen and bruised. He gives me the sad puppy dog eyes and says, "You need to take her to the Pediatric Emergency Room NOW". I'm still haunted by that look he gave me.
So I load my daughter into the car and take off for a hospital in Baltimore (GBMC). An hour drive, and I'm trying hard not to shake. You usually can't shut her up, but now she is completely silent so I know she's terrified too.
A young woman doctor comes in and checks her out. She 'hmms' and 'oohs' over my daughter for a few moments and says, "I think I know what this is". All I'm thinking is, "Don't say leukemia or some shit because I will lose it". They do a bunch of blood work, which all comes back negative and seems to enforce what the doctor is thinking.
Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP)
Apparently very rare, about 1 in 100,000, most always kids. Most doctors and nurses we've dealt with have never even heard of it. The doctor tells me to just keep her on Motrin for a while and it should go away on its own. Wow, I'm feeling lots better, right?
A couple days after the hospital visit, my daughter starts throwing up her food. It reaches the point she can't even keep down water without puking it back up. We go to her pediatrician (who thankfully knew about the HSP condition). They give her some anti-nausea medicine and send her home. The throwing up continues, and you can see the effect it's having on my daughter - you can see the life draining from her. I take her back to the hospital, and they put her on an IV just to get some fluids in her. They also give her another anti-nausea medicine. After a week of puking ... it just seems to stop. She starts eating again and gets some light back in her face. Yeah!
She still has the spots on her legs and the soreness in the joints but at least looking better at this point. But after a week of eating OK, the puking starts up again. Damn. Back to the doctor, who finally gives in and starts her on steroids. We didn't want to go that route, because God know what long-term steroids is going to do to a little girl, but we didn't see much choice. We were feeling beyond helpless at this point.
And, BAM, the day after she starts the steroids she's eating without throwing up, her legs feels better, and even the spots seem to be going away. She's a different person.
She's still on the steroids now, weeks later, but has not shown any problems besides a few stray dots on her legs. We have to take her to the doctor every week to monitor how her body is tolerating the steroids, but that's better than runs to the hospital.
So, hey, all you current and future parents: this is the shit you get to go through with those little ones. I sincerely hope your children - and YOU - make it through OK when things get nasty.
