My Kawasaki Heart Disease

My Kawasaki Heart Disease

One day I came home from school and had a sore throat

I told my mom and she gave me medicine for my throat

I went to school the next day then a rash popped out but it was not painful or itchy. 

The school nurse called and my mom came to pick me up

We went home and my mom called my doctor 

When we got there, my doctor said that I just had a virus 

My head hurt so bad it felt like drum beats in my head

So I got some medicine to help the pain subside 

The next day, I went to school but a few hours into school, the nurse called and told my mom a lot of rashes were coming up on my body 

Then my mom called the doctor and told him I was getting worse 

The drum beats in my head continued as my body started to get tired

On the third day, the fever started 

My body felt as warm as the sun rays pouring in all day 

I got some more medicine and then the next day my eyes turned pink

When I tried to eat, I felt bumps on my tongue 

I told my mom that my tongue hurt from eating 

She looked at my tongue and it was rose colored with bumps

She called the doctor again and the doctor said it was a virus 

But my mom knew something was wrong

She has a doctorate in pharmacy and thought that I had Kawasaki heart disease

She called her twin sister who is a Neonatologist, a doctor for infants

She told her that my tongue was swollen and that I had had a fever for days

Rose colored bumps on my tongue with my cheeks flushed and swollen My head hurt like drum beats in a concert

My stomach was starting to get swollen and the pinkness in my eye was present only at night 

I was starting to get tired so my mom had to carry me because I was so weak, I could not sit up 

Then my aunt said, “I think he has Kawasaki, get him to the hospital now.” Five days had passed and my fever was still raging at 102 and more 

But my pediatrician said it was just a virus 

So my mom and I after a Disney on Ice concert for kids drove to the hospital for the check up

At the hospital, they ran many tests and the doctor said that it looked like scarlet fever and gave me some antibiotics 

At the time, there was a strep throat outbreak in my school 

No one had told my mom other kids had been sick at school too. 

We left the hospital and started the medications

The next day my rash was almost gone

I was still weak and couldn’t walk but the hospital said to follow up with my pediatrician 

My pediatrician still said it was only a virus

But my mom thought otherwise, so back to the hospital we went

After blood tests and pictures of my heart through an echo machine

The cardiologist said, “Wait, your son has kawasaki heart disease, his heartbeat is so fast we need to put him on medications to slow it down. We don’t want a stroke or aneurysm of the heart.” 

The medications for my heart started, my palms and feet started to peel

My fever was down, now my body was healing and I felt better and could smile again

By Ikechi Mezu-Alabi June 4, 2020 - 13 years Old