On the mend!!

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (hen-awk shern-line purr-purr-ah)...that's what Kaylee was finally diagnosed with. The cause is unknown, but they know it's triggered by "bacterial or viral infections, medicines, insect bites, vaccinations or exposure to chemicals or cold weather." So, we're thinking it was this spider bite Kaylee had a few weeks ago (her arm swelled up and was tender...) or maybe a bit of the flu she caught from the Family Reunion in Idaho.

Her rash started off with a few very tiny spots on Thurs. or Fri. (5th or 6th)...we thought were some type of bug bite. But by Sunday night, you can see what those little spots turned into. Her right foot was all swollen, left one was beginning to. Her knees and elbows were very tender and achy. She started having stomach cramping and was throwing up by Monday afternoon which continued over the next few days until we decided it was probably best to admit her to the hospital. We didn't want Kaylee to get totally dehydrated...

Thurs. afternoon we went to the hospital, telling Kaylee that at the most she would have maybe 1-2 pokes, IV and possibly blood work. Unfortunately, it took 4 attempts to get her IV in. Each time they tried, she would scream which caused her vein to flatten. Then they came back in after her 1st blood draw and said, "we forgot to get this vial of blood" (which took 2 attempts to fill the vial.) UHGGG!!! Dr. Patel, the pediatric Dr. was familiar with HSP (which we have never heard of, have you???) He said there was no way to truly know if that was what she had, but he was pretty definite with her symptoms. But then, because there was so much bile in her throw-up, he wanted to run a few more tests to rule out appendicitis, an intussusception or kidney problems-all possible results of HSP. So, poor Kaylee had several, not very fun tests done-but they all came out negative.













We came home Friday, by that night Kaylee was back to being herself, and was STARVING. She kept going into the pantry, looking for food. Then she wanted to call her cousins and tell them she was home.

I can't begin to tell you how difficult it was for Michael & I to watch Kaylee go through this past week, especially the hospital. For the most part, all we could do was hold her hand as she would cry with pain from her stomach cramping, then hold her as she would throw up. Then the testing and poking and...having the NG tube put in...not being able to do anything when she'd cry, "mommy, daddy make them stop." She asked over and over again for a blessing or to say a prayer together to have the Holy Ghost with her so she could be brave.

It has been a long week. We are glad to have our spunky Kaylee back. We hope to never have to do anything like that again. Thank yous to all of you who visited, called, or left messages. It is nice to know we have such supportive family and friends! THANK YOU!!