Mystery Diagnosis

*WARNING THIS POST HAS SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES*

I have taken a break from the blogging world to play Nurse Jen for the last 6 weeks. Poor Nick is all I can say. He has had a serious of misfortune events that has led to him practically being bed ridden and his body waging a war against itself. Here is the abbreviated version of how it all went down.

We play in a co-ed softball league on Friday nights. It is a blast, and such a great date night that we both enjoy. In our last game of the end of summer league Nick slid into second base and got a 'strawberry' type wound on his left calf. After two weeks it started to look better, that is until he put the dreaded neosporin type ointment on it--then the wound got MAD!! It opened up, oozed yellow junk constantly, and was a lovely violet color. Three days later at a football game Nick got bit by a spider on the foot of the same injured leg. Two days after that his foot swelled to 2-3 times the size of his right foot with a red blotchy rash all over.

From this day on--it has been down hill just about. I finally convinced him to go to the doctor the next day. I worked only half the day so I could hear what the doctor had to say. Literally, I don't think any doctor has ever had me that scared. He named about 10 diseases it could be, wrote him 4 prescriptions, and instructed him to get blood drawn, come in everyday for an office visit to see if it is changing, and to have his leg elevated for at least 20 hours a day. (let us not forget this was all the same week as we were moving--this will have to be another post).
The culture of the open wound came back as him having a psudemonas (sp?) infection, and a condition called nonpapable purpura. In English that translates to some trigger in his body (either the spider bite or the infection from the open wound) led to his immune system over-reacting causing a full body rash that appears like hives and itches constantly. It only got worse before it got better--and after trips to the doctor daily, a visit to a specialist, blood work, liver panels, tons of meds, and rest--here we are 6 weeks later with the rash still present all over his feet, on the back of his legs, and blisters forming daily on the bottoms of his feet. He is no longer on the prednisone (to dangerous for long term use), so he patiently waits as his immune system stops trying to fight itself.

Needless to say, Nick has been great through it all. I have done the worrying for both of us. I am so thankful for the Priesthood blessings that the both of us have received and for all the prayers of friends and family. I truly do feel blessed at all the outpouring of love that I have felt from everyone. We still continue to pray for Nick's body to full recover, and in the process I am learning that this is all part of the Lord's plan. This has given me such a great opportunity to serve Nick, and in turn I love him more than ever.

Here are a few pictures of what his legs looked like during the 'scary' phase. We still haven't gotten an actual diagnosis, but thankfully the blood work all came back ok and nothing is related to an autoimmune disease that could be chronic.