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Hello,
my name is Anke, I am 31, I have a daughter and I live in a small town in East Frisia.
One morning in 2002 my daughter called me. She cried and told me that she could not get up. I asked what was the matter, my daughter told me that her feet hurt so much. Of course I looked at her feet immediately - they were red, swollen and very hot. Even the slightest touch caused a terribly pain!
I did not really trust our children's doctor, so I put my daughter in the backseat of our car and drove to a doctor I knew well and trusted. She looked at Vanessa's feeet and told me to go to the children's hospital, this looked like something serious. Wehen we arrived at the hospital we were immediatley booked in. The doctors were really caring.
After some tests and after having had a meeting with all the doctors of the hospital we were told that Vanessa suffered from vasculitis.
Vasculitis? What is that? I had so many questions. The doctors explained that vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood-vessels and that it is extremely rare in children. Then the treatment started. Aspirin was given to thin the blood and 3 x 20 minutes of special gauzes to heal the "frostbites".
The treatment did helpt and we were allowed to go home - yippieh! Our joy wasn't lasting very long, the symptoms returned over and over again. We went back to the clinic 3 times, then we were told that we would have to live with the symptoms. Especially in winter, we were told, the symptoms would return.
What a bad prognosis! I tried to gather as much informatino as possible, the internet was very helpful, the "Rheumaliga" sent some brochures. Now I knew at least something on this illness, so I decided I wanted to actively do something to fight this illness.
I am working in the pharmaceutical field and remembered what I had learnt. My thoughts were "what can I use to put onto the skin which will absorb quickly? What is it suuposed to do?" The first thought that came up was oil, oil is quickly absorbed, it is usually tolerated well. So I looked for an oil that eases pain, is good against inflammation and soothing. Then I thought about the dosis. After I had worked that out I started treating Vanessa's feet with it. The treatment worked - the redness disappeared, I could clearly see where the inflammation originated. I stopped giving her the Apsirin that was prescribed. Today I am happy to say that Vanessy is symptom-free. I have no idea if the vasculitis feels like reappearing one day, but in the meantime Vanessa can live her life the way she wants - tha is what is most important!
All the best!
Anke