Hutch-a-roo: Doctor. Doctor.

Our 2 week break from school was nice and quiet. We didn't have a lot planned. I think we all needed to catch up on sleep and just relax. Or maybe we were just preparing for a late Saturday night at Mater Children's Hospital.
Saturday afternoon, MA showed me her legs had a rash on the lower part of them and she said her feet hurt. I thought maybe her leggings were bothering her. So we showered and changed clothes. As the day went on the rash seemed to be spreading. The rash wasn't itching, her feet were what were really hurting her as the day continued. And the were slowly swelling. As we were putting everyone to bed, Matt and I just kind of looked at her and I think we knew it was going to be a long night. She had a fever by then and we were beginning to realize it wasn't a simple rash.
Thankfully our friend Lisa offered to come to our house and stay with DB & EL so Matt and I could both take MA to the hospital. Off we headed. Once we got there Matt had to carry poor MA, that's how swollen and sore her feet were. Luckily, it was a relatively quiet night when we arrived and didn't wait more than 45 minutes to be taken back into a room and seen by a doctor. The rash had worked its way up her body too. Dr. Sally checked her over then brought another doctor in for another opinion. They thought she had Henoch–Schönlein purpura but it doesn't usually have a fever associated with it. That's where they were concerned. As the doctors were talking and saying the name of it, I just kept thinking I am never going to remember that whole name to be able to google it later. Or even tell people what it is. They decided to keep us there for a few hours to monitor her blood pressure, run some blood test, and they even put in an IV in case we needed that later. MA was a trooper. I help the Ipad and she played while they did the blood tests and IV. Didn't even flinch and they had to try her hand before getting it in her arm.
They moved us back to our room. Since it was getting late, we decided that Matt should head home so Lisa could go home and I would just hang out at the hospital until they decided what they were going to do with us. MA was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep. One nice thing was since it was so late here, it was morning back in the States. So plenty of people to talk to and help pass the time just sitting there. Finally another doctor came on duty and he agreed with the diagnosis of HSP. I think that we ended up seeing 4 doctors that night. Dr. Sally told MA she had popular legs. They decided that we could go home shortly, just had to return the next day for some follow up tests.
Of course Matt had just got home and Lisa had just left. I quick sent a text to Lisa, and bless her, she offered to come in to the hospital and pick us up so we didn't have to take a taxi home. As we were driving home, we had a little laugh at all the people standing outside bars waiting for a taxi and we both could have used a drink at that point.
Back the next day for some tests and a few hours later we were home again. We have to go to our local GP (general practitioner) weekly for 6 weeks and then monthly for 6 months to continue to monitor her kidneys. But hopefully those visits will be uneventful.