Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura

If our Easter wasn’t bad enough with kids and hospital, then this past week has been a whole new experience.
A week or so ago Samantha started complaining of joint pain in her lower body, my wife and dismissed it as growing pains but it persisted to a point where there was swelling in her ankles, thighs and then her lower back. Most afternoons and into the night the pain was so bad that all Sam could do was sit on the lounge. We had her to the doc’s where some tests were carried out, but no specific diagnosis was confirmed.

A day later Sam started to break out in a rash/spots on her lower body. We were both concerned and rushed her to casualty thinking it may have been Meningococcal. Thankfully the doctors quickly dismissed our fears, but they were concerned with Sam’s condition, enough to admit her to the children’s wards for observation.

After a few days testing and a visit by the paediatric doctor Sam’s diagnosis was confirmed as “Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura”. Yep, you may ask what the! Its a rare inflammation of small blood vessels. It is unknown what causes it but it only affects about 14 out of 100000 schoolchildren each year. A fact sheet on it can be found here

The end result of this was that Sam had to spend a week in hospital under observation. Thankfully she’s at home now and on the road to a fully recovery. Its amazing the viruses that are out there now and how quickly your life can change when you or one of your family get struck down by one of them.