A note from my Mommy: My name is Anna and my husband is Jeff Durbin. We live in Chicagoland with our sweet little Erin.
Many doctors in this country are unaware of Kawasaki Sydnrome (or Kawasaki Disease). Many children between the ages of newborn to 14 years old are being sent home with the flu or any other common virus and they are sick for a while, and later in their lives, develop heart aneurysms. Please read the following links and find out the symptoms. The cause is unknown but some of these links may be better able to explain. Never feel as if you are an over-protective parent when it comes to your child. The death rate is quite low for this, but our children are our most precious gifts. Later in life you may find that your child is having heart problems and for an unknown reason, it may be because your child had Kawasaki Syndrome and neither you, nor your doctor, was aware because it is a rare disease. This is the story from Erin's perspective, and some of my own too. Please enjoy the story and take care of yourself and your precious children.
At the end of May 1997, I was getting really sick. I felt sore in my whole body and my eyes were bloodshot. I had never felt so weak in the two months that I had joined this world. My Mommy and Daddy were very worried about me and didn't know what to do. I had developed a rash and my lips cracked until they bled. Mommy and Daddy brought me to the hospital and we went into the emergency room here they saw me right away. I was running a fever of 103.1 and I was so weak I couldn't even cry. But the time came when they had to poke and prod me for blood to take tests and the nurses and doctors had a rough time. My Mommy says that it runs in her family that we have very hard veins to deal with. They roll and, me being a 2 month old, it was difficult for them to find since I had such a high fever. They took blood and also did a spinal tap. I cried so hard when they took blood from me that mommy says that I had blood coming from my eyes. Mommy had to leave and she cried very hard too. Daddy supported me through my tough times with the nurses taking blood from me.
After a few hours, they let me go home after giving me Tylenol. My mommy and Daddy wonder why they didn't keep me in the hospital. The rest of the night I slept peacefully because of all the crying I did. We we woke up, my fever was still there and I was still more tired and weak(Mind you, I was a baby that hardly ever slept to begin with). Mommy and Daddy brought me straight to the doctor and he listened to my heart and told me to go straight to the emergency room and that he would require me to admitted into the hospital. I stayed in the hospital for many days and watched as Mommy and daddy cried because they wanted me to be better.
They kept taking blood from me every day and I was constantly given Advil. After many days in one hospital and no cure in sight, they transferred me to Loyola Medical Center with the IV still in my arm. Mommy and Daddy brought me there. There, we met Dr. Anne Rowley. Mommy told me that she specializes in what I might have had. She said I may have Kawasaki Syndrome. Later I found that I did. Dr. Rowley knew what to do right away. But, she told me if we waited any longer to come to her that I would have had a heart attack. (I was only two months old). I was treated with an IV treatment called gamma globulin(also a treatment for heart attack victims) and afterward Mommy says I immediately regained my spunkiness. Mommy was so happy and Daddy even looked and felt better. I am glad they were there for me, I think that's why I had gotten better so quickly.
From time to time after leaving the hospital, I had to go back to Loyola and be tested by an echocardiogram machine to monitor how my heart had gotten better because this disease makes the arteries swell. I had to take aspirin everyday and Mommy had to make sure I was not brought around those kids who had the flu or chicken pox, I was at risk of getting Reye's syndrome. Later, I learned that I had a "hole" in my heart unrelated to this disease and that is still being monitered. Otherwise, the doctor's say that I will be able to live a normal life, and maybe become a world class athlete.
Click on Pooh to learn more about Kawasaki Disease
