As part of this condition, my little son, my little five year old skinny boy, put on a quarter of his weight in fluid over the space of a few days in January. A quarter.
This is how his feet normally look:
This was him the day before he was admitted to hospital when I knew he had edema but the doctor couldn’t see it. He convinced me at first that it was post-viral joint swelling. Should have trusted my instincts.
That’s like me putting on around 17kg. In around two weeks. And not because I’ve been at the Krispy Kremes.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh poor thing. Edema’s horrible. I had it really bad last pregnancy at the same time as my dad had it due to the medication he was taking for his hepatitis. When it’s really bad, it hurts a lot too.
Has it gone away now, or it something he’ll have to deal with indefinitely?
@ Tasha – it comes and goes depending on how well he is. And you’re right, it can be really painful and make walking hard. The skin can even split from the pressure, although fortunately it’s not come to that.
Oh you poor, poor thing. How scary for you as a parent. When you look at the photos you can’t possibly imagine how the doctor couldn’t have seen it was serious. A Mother knows! Big big hugs to you x
I’m sure you’ve looked into this already, but there are so many alternative therapies about which might help alleviate some of his symptoms. I’m a big fan of homeopathy. Learning massage, too, might help you to reduce his swelling when it happens again.
@MTJAM – we felt so powerless when he was diagnosed but the three things we felt we could do were read everything about his condition, join a relevant forum and find alternative therapies. Foe edema, massage, immersion in water and lemon juice as a diuretic help (in my opinion). Haven’t found a homeopathic remedy yet but I’m still looking.
I’ve been stressing out these past two weeks over a doctor’s not terribly serious misdiagnosis of what turned out to be a very, very minor health problem suffered by my 4 year old. This rather puts it all into perspective. I’ve only just caught up with your blog. I am so sorry. Wishing you all the strength you need and all the peace you can get. We’ll be praying for your family and for William especially.
Michelle
I feel really bad for your child, I had a rade 2 edema and it turned out to be Chronich Renal Insufficiency, thats when your kidneys no longer function properly, I had to undergo dialisis treatment which I still do evere day from 10 p to 7 am, liquids are restrained, i have access to 1 1/2 litters of liquid per day! thats like a 1/4 gal and then some, soup is included, so i have to be real care full with how much I drink. you have to keep an eye on toilet habits as well, by this i mean frequency apearance and smell.
my problem was unknown to me ’til right at the point when the doctor was sticking the catheter in my stomach, i went to the bathroom normally or so i thought, it turned out my body was releasing the excess liquid but not the toxins, these toxins are called creatinine and urea and are the primary components to urine, the are a muscular waste that is escreted by the kidneys. I am a father of three and from the bottom of my heart wish you the best and a quick recovery to your child I could not stand to see my children go through this desease, please take care!
kind regards,
christian
thank you christian, I wish you luck with your kidney disease too
Hi Christian – my name is Christine and my dear husband was just diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Fialure from too much protein as well. We also have 3 children – the smallest only 4 years old. We do not know where to begin in this matter. Could you tell us anything to ask the doctors ? I will keep you in our prayers as well. What a silent disease that no one knows about.