Anaiah is Healed

Having children means that they will eventually get a cold. Having multiple children means that one will get a cold and pass it on to the rest. In our house it started with Zariah. She had a fever and we took her to the doctor to get checked. They said she was fine and it would pass. A few days later Anaiah had a fever.

Once Anaiah's fever went down we went to the park to play and get back out of the house. She mentioned her knee hurt but it was bed time so I just figured it was a toddler fighting sleep as they do so well. She wasn't crying and didn't appear to be in much pain. The next morning she took a shower and I noticed a few bumps on her legs. They looked like chicken pox. She didn't seem bothered by them so I decided to just keep an eye on her. She was playing and I noticed her limping. Limping turned into not wanting to play and wanting to sit down. She said her leg hurt and she couldn't walk. So we took her to the ER. I really felt like they were brushing us off. The Doctors gave us a very generic diagnosis. They did x-rays on her legs and nothing was wrong with her bones. While we were in the hospital Anaiah refused to stand up and walk. She screamed in pain and agony. They told us that her pain and bumps that had now spread to her elbows were not related. The Doctors told us that the bumps are because her fever has come down and the pain could be an ankle sprain. I was not satisfied with their answers.

The next day I made a Doctors appointment to get Anaiah checked again for later that day. Knowing Anaiah she can be a little dramatic. So Hashim and I decided to test her pain level by going to the park. She wanted to go to the park and play like any child would. While at the park she continued to limp. She wouldn't run and she would only go up the structure on one foot.

At this point her bumps looked more like a rash and were dark red. They were all up her legs and on her elbows. When she got to the doctor he was very concerned with her symptoms. He instructed us to take her to the Children's Hospital. So from the Doctors appointment we went straight to Children's Hospital. She was seen right away and they knew what it was. It is called Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP). We were relieved to know what it was but so sad to see our baby going through this. The Doctors told us it could take up to a month for her to heal and for it to go away. They told us it was common. Hashim and I were shocked especially since we have never heard or seen it before since it was so common. They said only pain medication and Benadryl would help.

Over the next two weeks she still had pain. I was able to keep it tolerable with alternating pain medication. Her rash got really itchy and at times unbearable for her. The Benadryl would help. We tried to keep her comfortable and just encourage her. It really hurt our hearts to see her going though so much and feel like we could not help.

What was supposed to last a month only lasted about two weeks. Her spots slowly started going down and turned into bruises. She was able to walk and run with ease. We prayed for her every day and I rubbed coconut oil on her daily. Honestly I don't know if the coconut oil helped but she enjoyed the massage. HSP never affected her stomach which was definitely a blessing. It could have made things a lot worse for her. We still don't know how she got it and pray that it doesn't come back. We also pray that none of our other children get it. I am so happy that Anaiah is back to her healthy, happy self.

If you ask her about it now, she'd say "God healed my bumps."