HSP Update

D's HSP was causing a rash (which thankfully didn't itch), occasional low-grade fevers, and swelling in the extremities. HSP causes tiny blockages in the smallest capillaries, which cause those capillaries to burst — which makes ugly bruise-looking discolorations on his skin. But, as soon as the capillaries burst, the body starts healing itself, and they go away within a couple of days. But because it affects the small capillaries, it could affect his liver and kidneys, which are full of 'em.

So for the first week, that was the extent of D's symptoms. He was generally a happy little boy who occasionally needed some Tylenol. His liver and kidneys were fine.

Last night his, well, little boy parts were swollen. A horrible thought, but not necessarily something that got us overly worried. He started vomiting in the middle of the night last night, though, which is one of the warning signs of complications — it could be affecting his GI tract.

This morning's blood work showed that his blood was in "okay" ranges, but that it had changed since his blood draw on Dec. 1. His hemoglobin count was on the low end of acceptable, whereas before it was on the high end. This could just be a result of mild dehydration — he wasn't able to keep much down this morning and so hasn't had much to drink in the last 18 hours. (He also hasn't gone to the bathroom in about that time.)

They're putting him on low-dose steroids, but not checking him into the hospital. A side effect of the steroids is that it can make him hungry and hyper — I've never hoped for a hyper child until this day. So the next 24 hours is wait and see.

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It didn’t take long after downing his steroid that D found his hungry, hyper side. Since then he’s eaten, drank, peed, and combusted. I got this info second-hand from his mother, but while she was explaining on the phone the current situation, I could hear him practically screaming with laughter and excitement in the background. Twice she had to stop talking to me to tend to D -- once to say “Grampa is here! Please don’t knock him down!” and once to say “Grampa is not a target!” So far so good.