Hi my name is LeeAnne and I have four wonderful kids all with complex
health issues. I am posting to this group for some insight into
diagnosis and treatment. My father and my husband both have psoriasis
and psoriatic arthritis, not a very good gene pool I am afraid but
lots of other attributes! Anyway our daughter Amanda shares with her
younger bother and sister some health issues believed genetic that
have caused orthopedic problems, osteoporosis, overly loose joints,
back problems with spondylolisthesis(a slightly dislocated L5
vertebrae), she also has gastroesophageal reflux an autoimmune GI
problem and mild asthma(they all have some GI issues and asthma).
Several years ago she began to have severe back pain in her upper
back, a lot of studies were done, bone scan, MRI etc and all that we
found was the displaced L5 much lower then where her horrible pain
was and the osteoporosis and joint hyper mobility. She was put in PT,
water therapy a back brace, elavil, motirn around the clock and given
an IV medication to increase her bone density(pamidronate) all to
improve her back pain which it did
over months. At the same time she developed about 7 or 8 very small
red raised scaly lesions on her torso and a few on the outsides of
her
ankles which looked very similar to my dads psoriais except they were
few and small, Dad's are very large (my hubbys is
very mild in scalp,dads is all over and more severe). Flash forward
several years, the lesions scarred over and aside from the scars no
new lesions, one really bad case of eczema behind her ears did come
up as well, which derm called ezcema, as a few ezcema like dry scaly
patches by her mouth two winters in a row. Her
back pain was OK, a few mild flares but none so severe but she began
to complain alot of right ankle, feet and
left knee pains as well as occasional right hip pain over the last
year. This week I realized
she has been scratching her head alot, and I investigated. Her scalp
is pretty much covered in large pale pink very dense thick scaly in
area
plaques. It looks very much to me like numerous rather large
psoriatic lesions, with pinkish edges, some slightly bleeding. I have
an almost
immediate appointment to see derm at Children's in Phila on Monday.
BUT my big question and concern is , we have blamed the joint and
feet pains on her overly loose ligaments and joints I seriously
wonder if in fact it is psoriatic arthtitis. I have a call in to see
a ped rheumatologist as soon as we can get in. Her pain complaints
have been much worse the past month or so but I was blaming it on
walking more and back to school. I do think the scalp lesions have
appeared in the past month to two and interestingly she just hit
puberty in July too. My poor kid is upset and I am wondering how best
to get a good evaluation and diagnosis if it is and what is
appropriate treatment for a 12 y/o girl?
I'd truely appreciate any feedback, info or resources.
Thanks,
Lee Anne