We had quite the ordeal on Saturday night. Luke and I had a very busy day as we went to the gym, then to a birthday party, soccer pictures and then a soccer game. He was complaining in the morning about his feet hurting him and didn't want to wear his shoes. And then as the day went on he kept complaining that his legs were bothering him much like he did last month when I thought he was trying to get out of playing tennis. And again,I thought he was trying to get out of playing his soccer game so I made him push through and play. We ended up taking him out of the game in the last quarter.
On our way walking back to the car from the game, he was complaining and did not want to walk at all. He took off his socks when we got to the car and we drove home and again he continued to complain about his legs hurting him and his feet. He said his feet were itchy. When we arrived at home, he sat on the step and wouldn't go inside the house and was screaming in pain. It was then I looked down at his feet and they were completely swollen. I knew something was wrong and I yelled to get Steve.
I took him to the closest hospital, Evergreen because he was in so much pain. He was admitted right away and the doctor told me he thought he knew what Luke had. He said it was a classic case of HSP. When they learned that Luke's kidneys were okay they were finally able to give him some painkillers to take care of his fever and throbbing legs. He and I stayed in the hospital overnight so they could monitor him. They checked his blood and urine twice and in the morning he was able to walk again. The swelling in his feet did not go away until that night.
With HSP there is not much they can do to treat it. They just need to treat the symptoms when he has them. If it gets bad enough then he can go on steroids but hopefully that won't happen. We need to have his urine and or blood checked for the next six months to make sure his kidney and liver functions are okay. Rarely does the disease come back and the prognosis is excellent. They think it is caused by his antibodies trying to fight a cold or bug and it goes all wrong. His body attacks his own body body and the blood vessels explode causing the rash that he had on his legs and butt. It causes vasculitis in his joints on his legs ankles and feet. Which is basically arthritis.
In some cases, the doctor told us, kids come in with some of the symptoms Amanda up having their appendix removed because their stomach hurts them so bad. Only to find out that there appendixes fine and then the rash usually appears. Luke was complaining about stomach pain but not as much as the leg pain.
He only took one day off of school and I sent him back today. He had a hard time leaving and sheds some tears on the bus as it drove away which broke my heart. His new teacher is absolutely amazing as she emailed and called me at the end of the day. She even checked his feet to make sure they weren't swollen. She said he was all smiles today at school and that made me happy. I am amazed at how strong he was in the hospital and how calm he remained through the pain. He is my tough little man!
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