The HSP Bully

SICKNESS…

Around four weeks ago, when putting a diaper on Lyla for naptime, I noticed a few small red spots on her bum which kind of resembled a cluster of blood blisters. I didn’t think much of it at that moment – the kid has all kinds of marks decorating her never-flawless bod at any given moment just from minor skin irritants, constant rough play and a highly experienced level of clumsiness. At night when I went to put on her bed-time diaper, a few of the spots were nickel-sized and an alarming shade of bright red. I responded as any naturally effective mother would and turned to my friend, The Internet, who told me most likely my daughter had Meningitis and would surely be hospitalized by morning and permanently damaged from all the nasty, horrible things that the disease is capable of. Then I did the next most operative thing, which was to call Grandma, who had seen the spots back when they were trivial and less concerning. Unfortunately, her guess was as god as mine. Fortunately, the day following was Flint’s 2-month check-up and he doc was able to squeeze Lyla in at the same time and take a look at the suspicious marks.

Donning an oversized T-shirt distributed by the nurse, Dr. Dickey investigated Lyla’s booty and said it looked like Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (which at that moment sounded like “Henoijlsjlfj Schjijoiweoiujf Lakjp Popeoipo!”). The symptoms she described sounded relatively inaccurate at the moment, because Lyla had not yet developed any of them other than the rash/lesions. She prescribed nothing and warned there could be some swelling, particularly near her joints, perhaps a fever, possibly abdominal pain, but to make sure to call if at any time there was “copious amount of blood in her urine.” Uhm. I don’t think we’d have swept that one under the rug under any circumstance. Like… ever. Also important to note, severe abdominal pain that does not subside. Again… no broom or carpet.

Getting only superficial information from the doc, we researched it further at home. The net said the disease is a non-contagious infection of the vascular system (vasculitis) and occurs usually following an illness the immune system didn’t fight properly (such as Strep or an Upper Respiratory Infection). It typically runs its course in 4-6 weeks but will recur in 1/3 of patients. There is a chance it could do a number on her kidneys (hence the request to pay attention to her pee and weekly re-checks at the doc office (Lyla really enjoys the part where she pees in the cup.).).

Like some kind of poster child for HSP, Lyla very promptly complained that her “tummies hurts,” developed plenty more hideous spots, swelled up like a leech at a blood bank and even decided to impress us with a slight fever. Since then, we’ve had symptoms come and go and at one point even thought the HSP was on its way out the door. We were met by an exacerbation of symptoms shortly after, hopefully hitting some kind of climax. One Saturday night, poor Lyla’s legs were so swollen, she couldn’t walk. Running my hands down them made her scream. They felt like a topographical map of San Francisco.

Lyla has been a real toughie dealing with this. She’s not bothered by it unless her joints swell up, and even then it’s usually nothing more than an annoyance. And for her toughness I am eternally grateful, because this disease looks just terrible. She already breaks our hearts, but to think of her in any further pain because of it would just turn us all into pathetic mush. We are 4 weeks into it and hopefully reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, and hopefully she’s not one of the three that get to have a second HSP party. While she hasn’t been truly ill due to the HSP, she definitely hasn’t been herself… and we really miss our happy, healthy Lyla.

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on her progress!

(Missing from this post: photos and videos typical of Emily's bloggin' style. I thought I'd spare you the yucky images of purpura and swelling. Cause who needs to see that? (If it's you, feel free to see generic, non-Lyla images of it here!)).