a bad case of the polka dots

have you ever read this book?

it's darling, and has a good message, but this past month it popped into my head constantly because ali too was plagued with an equally insane pattern...polka dots...for real.

I could not blog about this until now, because now it's over and is just something we went through, but at the time it was so sad to me that to think about it for one more moment than I had to, like say thinking about it while blogging, was just not a good idea. that may seem melodramatic and silly to those who have gone through something far more challenging, but at the time I was just too emotional to think about it...it was just so odd.

so ali one night all the sudden had these weird purple spots show up on her legs, followed shortly by bruises popping up around her joints. not what any parents wants to see right before bed time...or anytime for that matter. anyway, we have seen ali have weird skin reactions to viruses before and she had been coughing, so when we called our dr.'s office they said to give her benedryl and watch to see if it cleared up.

it didn't.

it got worse, covering her legs, joint swelling-to the point where my baby was limping (at night particularly) when she tried to walk around. we took her in obviously before it got to this point, and it looked like something called HSP which can effect you kidneys and we were told to bring her back in weekly with a urine sample to monitor her kidneys, that there was nothing they could give her for it, and that it could last a few days, weeks, or even a year...what?

so we dutifully brought her in for her one week pee test and by this point it was spreading to her tummy and arms, with hand swelling, and one day her nose was even slightly swollen. the same PA saw her and went to get the doctor...this time it was my friend Ashley's pediatrician who she trusts as much as I trust mine up in provo. he took one look and said that it was erythema multiforme and stevens-johnson syndrome (mouthfull?) which does not effect the kidneys (few), and as weird as this sounds he said, do nothing it will go away in 3-4 weeks and it won't be something that is recurring...and the music to my ears...this is the worst it will get....it should not spread anymore. hallelujah. all of her side effects like swelling and bruising at the joints...normal. and it was not contagious. just a reaction to a virus she had had at some point.

to back track a bit, when this first all happened she was given a blessing that said that it would clear up in a few weeks and resolve itself. so hearing the doctor say that same thing was my own testimony builder. through it all she was such a trooper. talk about a tough kid. she limped around like tiny tim, and told us that her feet had a headache, and that her legs hurt (I know, rip my heart out), but she never stopped being resilient 'lil al who tried her best to run around catching up to her brother. (who by the way asked every night in his prayers that his sister would get all better.)

It was so weird. her legs were COVERED in spots, that were caused by capillaries bursting under the skin leaving bruises (don't quote me on the science of all of this that's justin's department), that would fade only to be replaced by new marks, or bumps like hives that would flatten out leaving more bruising. her arms never got as bad and it only took over the bottom half of her tummy. and then amazingly it started disappearing. more dots would appear, but they seemed to be disappearing in larger numbers that their replacements were coming in. sigh/holding breath to make sure it was really leaving.

it is completely faded now, and I am so relieved. I knew from the blessing it would be ok...but it's still hard to see your baby hurt and not be able to fix it.

so my polka dot baby is back to her normal self...almost...she has NEVER been clingy. nursery transition at church was a breeze, she didn't care at all when we dropped her off there and now? she got used to being held and snuggled and apparently developed an attachment to it, because on sunday not only did she cry her eyes out, but even after daddy rescued her the whole ward had to listen to her pitiful "I want mommy" chant until the end of church when I was no longer teaching sharing time and could appease her.

I'll take it.

I will take reintroducing her to independence over seeing her sick any day.

goodbye polka dots, hello normal-gorgeous-never-take-you-for-granted-again skin and joints. oh how we missed you.