When a 6 year old has pain.....

People close to the family know that one of my 6 year olds has been very sick.  Last February/March this child had what we thought was an allergic reaction to Ritalin.  They developed a "rash" that resembled welts.  The welts then turned into bruises.  They began to have protein in the urine.  We followed with the pediatrician checking her urine.  Finally over the summer saw nephrology.  By that time the urine was clear and we thought we were in the clear.  But every time we saw the pediatrician we had protein again.  Then in October this child woke in the middle of the night screaming in pain.  She couldn't or wouldn't walk or stand.  The legs were mottled, eyes red, and low grade fever.  My child was asking to go to the ER.  Took her to the ER and they couldn't figure it out.  This occurred several times during October.  We went to the movies on a Saturday afternoon and while watching the movie I heard a faint cry.  It kept getting louder.  Finally I picked up my little person and carried them to the lobby.   Off to the ER once again.  Finally, we figured out that they had mono at some point and the autoimmune markers were elevated.  So we were sent to Rheumatology at PCH.  At PCH we did more blood work and found that the ANCA was elevated.  So, the antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) is used to detected autoimmune markers.  Specifically it checks for things like Wegener's granulomatosis. 

Wegener's granulomatosis is a disorder that causes inflammation of the veins and arteries.  It typically occurs in middle aged adults not children.  But it can.  It can effect the kidneys (protein in the urine), lungs, and nasal passages.  Symptoms include body aches, fever, stuffy nose, protein in the urine, cough, ear infections, or red eyes.  In doing a little research I have found that some of the sites make it seem like little more than an inconvenience.  While other sites make it seem like doom and gloom.  Today we had a chest xray.  We are waiting for a call.  We started a cough about 5 days ago now and this morning we couldn't get out of bed.  Naproxen twice daily is helpful but now the legs are bruised significantly.

We are praying for a quick and speedy recovery once we get a definite diagnosis.  This has not been fun and I wouldn't wish this on anyone.  Until tomorrow...