Issue No. 67 - November to December 2011 - DOH

formed wax out of the water and looked atit. In an instant Lola Ana saw a figure of agirl but could not exactly identify whetherit is an elemental, a spirit or a human. Sheshowed it to me, but I could not see what shewas seeing and I just agreed with her. BeforeI left, she wiped my rashes with oil. Thatwas my first time to consult a magtatawas,and I must admit it was a pretty interestingexperience.Then, I finally proceeded to Dr.Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital andconsulted a dermatologist, thinking mycondition was a skin disease. But the doctortold me it was vasculitis.VasculitisVasculitis (vas-kyu-LI-tis) is aninflammation of the blood vessels. It happenswhen the body's immune system attacks theblood vessel by mistake. Vasculitis can affectarteries, veins and capillaries. Arteries arevessels that carry blood from the heart tothe body's organs. Veins are the vessels thatcarry blood back to the heart. Capillaries aretiny blood vessels that connect the smallarteries and veins.When a blood vessel becomesinflamed, it can narrow that will make theblood more difficult to get through, closeoff completely so that blood cannot getthrough, or stretch and weaken so much thatit bulges and may burst and cause dangerousbleeding inside the body. Inflammation mayinvolve pain, redness, warmth, swelling, andloss of function in the affected tissues.In vasculitis, inflammation canlead to serious problems. Complicationsdepend on which blood vessels, organs, orother body systems are affected. There aremany types of vasculitis, but overall thecondition is rare. Moreover, the cause ofvaculitis is often unknown.Wow, I have a disease that is rareand with still unknown cause. I must besomebody that special, or so I thought.This increased my desire to find out moreinformation about vasculitis, and my searchbrought me to the website of the NationalHeart Lung and Blood Institute of the USDepartment of Health and Human Services.Surprisingly, I found out that KawasakiDisease - a rare childhood disease in whichthe walls of the blood vessels throughoutthe body become inflamed and Buerger'sDisease – a smoking-related disease thattypically affects blood flow to the hands andfeet causing ulcers on the fingers and toesand leading to gangrene are included in thelong list of types of vasculitis.According to the website, vasculitiscan affect people of all ages and races andboth sexes. Some types of vasculitis seemto occur more often in people who havecertain medical conditions, such as chronichepatitis B or C infection; those who havecertain autoimmune diseases, such a lupus,rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma; andsmokers.Treatment for vasculitis willdepend on the type of vasculitis you have,which organs are affected, and the severityof the condition. People who have severevasculitis are treated with prescriptionmedicines which include corticosteroids andcytotoxic medicines. Rarely, surgery maybe done. People who have mild vasculitismay find relief with over-the-counter painmedicines, such as acetaminophen, aspirin,ibuprofen, or naproxen.The main goal of treating vasculitisis to reduce inflammation in the affectedblood vessels. This usually is done byreducing or stopping the immune responsethat caused the inflammation.Moreover, the medicines usedto treat vasculitis can have side effects. Forexample, long-term use of corticosteroidsmay lead to weight gain, diabetes, weakness,a decrease in muscle size, and osteoporosis(a bone-thinning condition). Long-term useof these medicines also may increase yourrisk of infection.And, while being treated forvasculitis, the patient needs to see the doctorregularly and consult any new symptomsand other changes in health status, includingside effects of the medicines.From Worse to HellAt the Rodriguez Hospital, I wasgiven a prescription of corticosteroids,specifically prednisone. The following weekmy condition did not improve at all andprogressed from worse to hell.I was able to go to the office onMonday, but my condition prevented mefrom doing my work and with so muchprodding from my officemates, I went tosee a dermatologist from Dr. Jose R. ReyesMemorial Medical Center to have a secondopinion. Still, there was no clear answeras to what caused my illness. The doctorjust increased the dosage of my prednisonefrom 30 milligrams (mg) to 60 mg per day.That afternoon, the swelling of my feet andlegs had gone worse, but I managed to gohome. There, I really got bothered becausewhen I checked on my rashes, the pinkishcolor became deep red or maroon and theyalready spread to other parts of my body,going up to my thighs, stomach, lower back,stomach, elbows and hands.I was absent for two weeks. It wasvery hard. Every step I made was so painful,it was like my muscles got stuck and bothlegs and feet were really swollen. My leftknee also started to swell. I could hardlymove my lower extremities and becamesemi-paralyzed at that time. I was losingweight because of too much worrying. AndI often had sleepless nights because my feetwere hurting.18 HEALTHbeat I November - December 2011