My son - bruises under foot, under knee, on the hand
- Thread starter Michal
- Start date
Can Won
Padawan Learner
My 6 year old son has also recently been diagnosed with Henoch Schonlein Perpura and due to it being quite rare, I thought it best to add to this particular post.
2 weeks ago our son started to get a few red marks appear on his lower legs, which looked like mosquito bites (the week prior to this he’d also had a cold). My wife and I applied fresh aloe vera to the areas concerned and it appeared to be making a difference. Our son wasn't complaining of any particular pain, but more and more of the "bites" started to appear over the next few days. We continued to use the aloe vera under the assumption that they were bites (there were a lot of mosquitos around at the time) and simply because he didn't appear to have any other symptoms.
2 days later the school phoned to ask that one of us go and collect him early that day, as he had been complaining of a pain in his foot and was struggling to walk. Apparently he'd told the teacher that he couldn't do P.E. due to the pain, yet the teacher had told him to get on with it (hmmm). It became plainly obvious he couldn't participate and so he ended up going to see the nurse and that was when they called. My wife went straight to the school and as soon as he saw her, he started screaming about the pain in his foot and how he couldn't stand on it. The school's a 5 minute walk from our house and in usual circumstances we'd obviously walk, but not in this case. My wife phoned her brother, who fortunately lives around the corner and he drove to the school. It was causing quite a stir that our son was screaming so much and now refusing to let anyone touch him. Eventually he let my wife's brother put him in the car and he was taken straight home. The assumption at this point was that he’d damaged his foot in some way. The local doctor was called, but the surgery was shut that afternoon (we live in a village) so straight off to the hospital. When he was being examined and getting ready to go for an x-ray, the “bites” on his leg were noticed. The doctor recognised what the problem was immediately and took a urine sample(quite fortunate as it only effects 10-14 in every 100,000) and this was our introduction to Henoch Schonlein Perpura. The doctor said to give him painkillers 3-4 times a day regardless, and arrange to see the local doctor for a regular urine test to check that his kidney’s weren’t infected by the virus and that was that, literally.
Not a great deal of help! My wife asked for a wheel chair to take him back to the car and it was then the doctor told our son to stand up as he needed to start walking on it and no he couldn’t have a wheelchair or any crutches. It was plainly obvious that our son was in a lot of pain and wasn’t able to walk! The doctor left the nurse alone to deal with any paperwork, during which the nurse did her best to apologise for the doctor’s behaviour, but there's no point dwelling on that part, so let's just say the doctor was lacking in social skills.
Once they were both home and we’d settled our son down for the night we started to look into what Henoch Schonlein Perpura actually is. We were both concerned that the doctor's only advise was the painkillers, which appeared to be rather flippant, so after reviewing the internet for any beneficial information, the following day my wife phoned Great Ormond Street (Children’s) Hospital for some advice. Lo and behold, the lady my wife spoke to said that her daughter had also had it and therefore she was able to share some first-hand knowledge on the matter and send us a pamphlet explaining the ins and outs, including the worse case scenario.
The spots on our son’s little legs morphed into large purple rashes, rather like very large birthmarks/ /bruises, particularly around his ankles and the backs of his knees. As mentioned, we’d looked into what the virus was capable of doing, so there was no need to panic when they started to appear. The pain was always a lot worse for him in the evening and one of the problems was because he always felt better in the morning, he wanted to continue as if everything was alright, alongside trying to prove that to us. Trying to curb a child’s enthusiasm for being active is difficult to say the least! The pain he was in during the the evening was heart breaking at times and then one night when it was particularly bad and he couldn't catch his breath, he said he was scared that he might die! It took a lot of reassurance to calm him down. So after, we had a conversation explaining and reminding him that focusing on his breathing would heIp him handle the pain, but more importantly, that he wasn’t going to die from it! It’s not pleasant seeing your son in such excruciating pain and each evening my wife and I made a point of saying our own little prayer for him.
(Jumping back slightly, just prior to this episode I’d decided to order some DMSO cream, my ankle had been playing up for quite a while and nothing so far had made any real difference, well I soon saw why it’s been called a “miracle solution”! Every time I went down any stairs it would set my ankle off again, yet within 24 hours of using it, the cream had made a huge difference!)
One of the symptoms of HSP is inflammation of the joints and our son’s foot in particular was very swollen, so we tried the DSMO cream out and it helped straight away, particularly with the pain. We’d already decided not to give him any painkillers unless he was actually in any pain, which was mainly in the evening. We’re all on a low carb diet so we didn’t feel it was due to anything he was eating, he’s not got the biggest appetite, but loves bacon and is growing to like the fat bomb now, definitely with a preference to the vanilla rather than chocolate! And with all this going on, it just reinforces what has been discussed at the dinner table about being careful with regards to what you eat and keeping your body's immune system strong enough to deal with any virus that rears it's head. It's pretty rare for any of us to be ill, so this was all a bit of a suprise!
Anyway, all in all, it’s been a slow process with a few ups and downs, but he’s showing all the signs of recovery now, there’s no infection in his kidneys, the swellings going down and the rashes and spots are fading. He’s been off school for a while, but the children in his class have all kept in contact with him, they sent him a personalised get well soon card with lots of positive messages and he knows that once he’s ready he can go in for the morning session to see how he gets on. The virus may reappear at later stages, but until it does, we’ll all just have to focus on what is actually happening right now and things are looking pretty good taking it all into account.
So, that’s our experience so far of Henoch Schonlein Perpura and we're just glad it wasn't a severe case, seeing some of the pictures of other children's symptoms really brought that home.
To finish this post..."The Work" has helped hugely in this particular episode, so a BIG THANK YOU to you all for everything we've learnt so far from this forum.
2 weeks ago our son started to get a few red marks appear on his lower legs, which looked like mosquito bites (the week prior to this he’d also had a cold). My wife and I applied fresh aloe vera to the areas concerned and it appeared to be making a difference. Our son wasn't complaining of any particular pain, but more and more of the "bites" started to appear over the next few days. We continued to use the aloe vera under the assumption that they were bites (there were a lot of mosquitos around at the time) and simply because he didn't appear to have any other symptoms.
2 days later the school phoned to ask that one of us go and collect him early that day, as he had been complaining of a pain in his foot and was struggling to walk. Apparently he'd told the teacher that he couldn't do P.E. due to the pain, yet the teacher had told him to get on with it (hmmm). It became plainly obvious he couldn't participate and so he ended up going to see the nurse and that was when they called. My wife went straight to the school and as soon as he saw her, he started screaming about the pain in his foot and how he couldn't stand on it. The school's a 5 minute walk from our house and in usual circumstances we'd obviously walk, but not in this case. My wife phoned her brother, who fortunately lives around the corner and he drove to the school. It was causing quite a stir that our son was screaming so much and now refusing to let anyone touch him. Eventually he let my wife's brother put him in the car and he was taken straight home. The assumption at this point was that he’d damaged his foot in some way. The local doctor was called, but the surgery was shut that afternoon (we live in a village) so straight off to the hospital. When he was being examined and getting ready to go for an x-ray, the “bites” on his leg were noticed. The doctor recognised what the problem was immediately and took a urine sample(quite fortunate as it only effects 10-14 in every 100,000) and this was our introduction to Henoch Schonlein Perpura. The doctor said to give him painkillers 3-4 times a day regardless, and arrange to see the local doctor for a regular urine test to check that his kidney’s weren’t infected by the virus and that was that, literally.
Not a great deal of help! My wife asked for a wheel chair to take him back to the car and it was then the doctor told our son to stand up as he needed to start walking on it and no he couldn’t have a wheelchair or any crutches. It was plainly obvious that our son was in a lot of pain and wasn’t able to walk! The doctor left the nurse alone to deal with any paperwork, during which the nurse did her best to apologise for the doctor’s behaviour, but there's no point dwelling on that part, so let's just say the doctor was lacking in social skills.
Once they were both home and we’d settled our son down for the night we started to look into what Henoch Schonlein Perpura actually is. We were both concerned that the doctor's only advise was the painkillers, which appeared to be rather flippant, so after reviewing the internet for any beneficial information, the following day my wife phoned Great Ormond Street (Children’s) Hospital for some advice. Lo and behold, the lady my wife spoke to said that her daughter had also had it and therefore she was able to share some first-hand knowledge on the matter and send us a pamphlet explaining the ins and outs, including the worse case scenario.
The spots on our son’s little legs morphed into large purple rashes, rather like very large birthmarks/ /bruises, particularly around his ankles and the backs of his knees. As mentioned, we’d looked into what the virus was capable of doing, so there was no need to panic when they started to appear. The pain was always a lot worse for him in the evening and one of the problems was because he always felt better in the morning, he wanted to continue as if everything was alright, alongside trying to prove that to us. Trying to curb a child’s enthusiasm for being active is difficult to say the least! The pain he was in during the the evening was heart breaking at times and then one night when it was particularly bad and he couldn't catch his breath, he said he was scared that he might die! It took a lot of reassurance to calm him down. So after, we had a conversation explaining and reminding him that focusing on his breathing would heIp him handle the pain, but more importantly, that he wasn’t going to die from it! It’s not pleasant seeing your son in such excruciating pain and each evening my wife and I made a point of saying our own little prayer for him.
(Jumping back slightly, just prior to this episode I’d decided to order some DMSO cream, my ankle had been playing up for quite a while and nothing so far had made any real difference, well I soon saw why it’s been called a “miracle solution”! Every time I went down any stairs it would set my ankle off again, yet within 24 hours of using it, the cream had made a huge difference!)
One of the symptoms of HSP is inflammation of the joints and our son’s foot in particular was very swollen, so we tried the DSMO cream out and it helped straight away, particularly with the pain. We’d already decided not to give him any painkillers unless he was actually in any pain, which was mainly in the evening. We’re all on a low carb diet so we didn’t feel it was due to anything he was eating, he’s not got the biggest appetite, but loves bacon and is growing to like the fat bomb now, definitely with a preference to the vanilla rather than chocolate! And with all this going on, it just reinforces what has been discussed at the dinner table about being careful with regards to what you eat and keeping your body's immune system strong enough to deal with any virus that rears it's head. It's pretty rare for any of us to be ill, so this was all a bit of a suprise!
Anyway, all in all, it’s been a slow process with a few ups and downs, but he’s showing all the signs of recovery now, there’s no infection in his kidneys, the swellings going down and the rashes and spots are fading. He’s been off school for a while, but the children in his class have all kept in contact with him, they sent him a personalised get well soon card with lots of positive messages and he knows that once he’s ready he can go in for the morning session to see how he gets on. The virus may reappear at later stages, but until it does, we’ll all just have to focus on what is actually happening right now and things are looking pretty good taking it all into account.
So, that’s our experience so far of Henoch Schonlein Perpura and we're just glad it wasn't a severe case, seeing some of the pictures of other children's symptoms really brought that home.
To finish this post..."The Work" has helped hugely in this particular episode, so a BIG THANK YOU to you all for everything we've learnt so far from this forum.
Thanks for sharing Can Won! I can't imagine the pain your son went through, but I'm really happy to read that he seems to be doing better. Considering that you're all doing the diet, do you think that a stressful situation at home or elsewhere could've affected his immune system negatively?
Hi Can Won, just read your story and I am glad that it all finished well. For me this was scariest moment in my recent life. Now our son is fine and did not have any recurrences. From that time he changed diet and now is gluten and dairy free. Greetings to Your son! It must have been scary to You but You have been brave.
I'm glad that the DMSO cream helped. When it comes to kidney problems and immune reactions, being gluten, dairy and lectin-free is essential. Be careful with hidden sources of gluten. It really has a toxic effect in the kidneys and a particular ability to mimic viruses and trigger immune reactions.
Speedy recover for your son!
Speedy recover for your son!
Can Won
Padawan Learner
It's great to hear your son is fully recovered Mikel!
Thanks for all your replies, it's just one day at a time, as always, but yesterday morning was the first time in a while that I could see that the spark was back in him.
The possibility of a kidney infection is more of a worse case scenario when it comes to HSP, therefore it's vital to keep getting the urine tested for any such infection. Of course when you're reading up on HSP the part about the kidney's jumps out and I'm sure has caused alot of panic for parents. However, the recovery rate is very good and that is something that parents should definitely be focused on. I would add that the visible symptoms themselves are nothing in comparison to the pain that the child is feeling, it's obviously not pleasant to see all the spots and bruising effect, but it was far worse when our son refused to let anyone near him, let alone touch him. On one occasion when my wife was trying to comfort him, he gave her a look that could only really be described as hatred! It was very upsetting for her to deal with. The agonising screams go right through you, this is why I mentioned "The Work" helping so much in being able to handle such scenarios and not go to pieces.
One of the things that can trigger HSP is an insect bite, so we're leaning more towards that as the cause at this stage rather than a stressful situation. Of course that doesn't mean that we're discluding that possibility, but we're very open in conversation at home, particularly with problems that anyone's having. It's certainly a never ending topic of conversation!
Another factor to take into account is that having spent the last few weeks at home, getting constant attention from his Mum in particular, our son now wants to stay at home and isn't particularly enthusiastic about returning to school! Fortunately though his teacher said it wouldn't be a problem for him to come back in for an hour in the morning for the first few days, so he can adjust.
To finish this post on a lighter note, recently when my wife broached the subject of our 2 year old daughter being naughty, she stood up on her chair and promptly replied, "I not naughty, I jus' CRAZEEEEEE!", so there's lots of laughter too!
Thanks for all your replies, it's just one day at a time, as always, but yesterday morning was the first time in a while that I could see that the spark was back in him.
The possibility of a kidney infection is more of a worse case scenario when it comes to HSP, therefore it's vital to keep getting the urine tested for any such infection. Of course when you're reading up on HSP the part about the kidney's jumps out and I'm sure has caused alot of panic for parents. However, the recovery rate is very good and that is something that parents should definitely be focused on. I would add that the visible symptoms themselves are nothing in comparison to the pain that the child is feeling, it's obviously not pleasant to see all the spots and bruising effect, but it was far worse when our son refused to let anyone near him, let alone touch him. On one occasion when my wife was trying to comfort him, he gave her a look that could only really be described as hatred! It was very upsetting for her to deal with. The agonising screams go right through you, this is why I mentioned "The Work" helping so much in being able to handle such scenarios and not go to pieces.
One of the things that can trigger HSP is an insect bite, so we're leaning more towards that as the cause at this stage rather than a stressful situation. Of course that doesn't mean that we're discluding that possibility, but we're very open in conversation at home, particularly with problems that anyone's having. It's certainly a never ending topic of conversation!
Another factor to take into account is that having spent the last few weeks at home, getting constant attention from his Mum in particular, our son now wants to stay at home and isn't particularly enthusiastic about returning to school! Fortunately though his teacher said it wouldn't be a problem for him to come back in for an hour in the morning for the first few days, so he can adjust.
To finish this post on a lighter note, recently when my wife broached the subject of our 2 year old daughter being naughty, she stood up on her chair and promptly replied, "I not naughty, I jus' CRAZEEEEEE!", so there's lots of laughter too!
Can Won said:
I've done this to my own mother a few times. When you're already overwhelmed by the pain you're in, anyone around you who is distressed about it seems to amplify it. It's as if there is an emotional connection due to sympathy, but something is wrong and there is a negative effect.
The best way I can describe it is this. At the time it seemed clear to me that my mother was in a panic and overwhelmed by emotion herself. It seemed to me she was just trying to calm her own panic, while not helping me at all and in fact only causing me more pain. Whether it was true or not, that's how I felt - but there has to be some reason I felt this way. Thinking this, I would rather have endured the pain than allow my mother to help me. And I knew the only way to get her to step back would be something shocking, so I did what any child does, I drew on the emotions I was feeling to produce it. That look which most people describe as "hatred" is really telling you that to your child, you are overwhelmed with your own emotions and are only making his problem worse, or even that you don't see him at all through your own distress, and that to you in your panic, he not more than a path to relief.
At the time I felt the effect it had on my mother. She drew back and was quiet for a moment. She was stunned and extremely hurt. But I also felt that I had made a connection with her, that she would be able to care for me better, would be more observant and sincere and would not cause me any more pain if she could.
To this day she still remembers those moments and it comes up occasionally when we talk about children and parenting.
Remembering this now I can begin to understand manifestations of "hatred" in adults. Could this be what narcissists feel all the time?
