HSP - Henoch-Schonlein Purpura

002, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

We ended up at the ER today w/ Owen. Thankfully, we got to go home :).

Owen had a fever of 102.5 again this AM and instead of complaining of stomach pain (as he did yesterday) was complaining of back pain. He also had this rash. This photo is the back of his leg where it started (he's now covered in it). And, the rash was spreading. It didn't itch. It wasn't raised. But, most concerning was that it didn't blanch. I'm a nurse. I know that that's not a good thing. He was covered in petechiae. I know that that is one of the initial findings in a lot of bad things: childhood leukemia, septicemia, etc. But, I called my neighbor friend 2 houses down (Em's best buddy's mom) who was a peds nurse (in her previous life - before kids). Anyway, she took one look at it and said that he needs to be in the ER.

So, I called my pediatrician who said the same thing and off we went. The chief resident had the same concerns that I did and wanted to make sure that he wasn't bleeding from anywhere else: nose, gums, etc. Petechiae is essentially bleeding under your skin. It's when the little capillaries under your skin break and you bleed under your skin. It's often a sign of low platelets. She was impressed enough w/ his rash that she asked Owen's permission to bring in other doctors who may not have ever seen petechiae before. She immediately wanted to rule out leukemia w/ a blood test. She also did blood cultures and urinalysis and put an IV in...just in case.

Thankfully, his blood tests came back perfect. So, final diagnosis: HSP - Henoch -Sconlein Purpura, an autoimmune disorder that's rare (of course) but usually follows an upper respiratory infection by 2 weeks (remember he had pneumonia two weeks ago?). Most people recover w/ no problem. But, a small few have kidney involvement. She said to watch him carefully the next few days for signs that it might be getting worse: joint pain, blood in his urine. And, we have to go to the pediatrician 2 times this week for another urinalysis to make sure he doesn't have protein in his urine (a sign that there is know kidney involvement). If it gets worse, they'll admit him to the hospital for IV steroids.

Interestingly, HSP doesn't usually occur w/ a high fever like he has. So, the doctor thought that perhaps he has 2 separate things going on. The HSP a result from his infection 2 weeks ago. The fever - a result of a new infection.

Remember how I was about to lose my mind??? Believe it or not, I feel better. I'm just so happy that's it's not the things that it could have been.