So What The Hell Is Vasculitis?

This is the question I had whirling round my brain when the doctor had delivered my " Based on the blood tests and urine results and presentation of other symptoms, we think you may have a condition called Vasculitis , but to be sure we want you to have a Kidney Biopsy" The words "Kidney Biopsy" I remember made my eyes widen and a sort of wave feeling went up my body, these two words were now locked in my brain Kidney Biopsy, Kidney Biopsy. I now felt scared for the first time since becoming ill, but strangely not in the way you may think, no not scared in case my Kidneys had been damaged but scared of having the Kidney Biopsy procedure itself, its I all I could think about,  the doctor was still talking to me but I wasn't listening. I remember thinking I don't want to have a Kidney Biopsy :(  After what seemed like an age my ears were back with the doctor and she had moved on to the we will speak to Renal and an out patient appointment will be made for you, probably in one weeks time because we need to stop your aspirin for 5 days for this procedure because of bleeding. "Bleeding, Bleeding"? Bang straight back in a world of my own again slight panic and tears beginning to well up in my eyes. "Mrs Bibby are you ok"?  "Yes well I think so ( am I hell ok) just a lot to take in" " Ok then Mrs Bibby we will be in touch" and with that  the doctor and her team were gone.
I was now just sitting there quietly staring out the window thinking what the hell had just happened to me focusing again on the Kidney Biopsy when bang the word Vasculitis suddenly popped in my head, what the hell is Vasculitis?  I asked myself, didn't have a clue, never even heard of it, couldn't wait to get home from the hospital to google it lol.
Our journey home of around 16 miles was mainly in silence while I tried to process the events of the day. What started as being ill with horrendous pain in my feet (more of that later) now to be told I have to have a kidney biopsy didn't make sense, what the hell did my kidneys have to do with my feet?
On arrival at home I couldn't wait to fire up the laptop to gather more information on my diagnosis. How do I even spell Vasculitis? Google filled it in for me, click and there it was. Some websites full of over your head medical terms and jargon, so did not bother with them, still looking I came across a website Vasculitis Uk, more up my street, simple language and all information you need.
Finally I learned what I needed to know about my newly diagnosed condition.

So what the hell is Vasculitis?

Vasculitis is inflammation of the blood vessels. The blood vessels involved can be in any organs and may be different in different types of vasculitis. The skin, joints, kidney and lungs are often involved in some of the more common types of vasculitis. The overall prognosis varies depending on the organ involved and the severity of the disease. Treatment varies depending on the actual vasculitic disease present, the severity of the disease and on the organs involved.

Different types of vasculitis will usually affect mainly one size of blood vessel. Takayasu's arteritis and giant cell or temporal arteritis are called large vessel vasculitis because they mainly affect the aorta and the biggest arteries as they branch off. Polyarteritis nodosa and Kawasaki's disease are called medium vessel vasculitis because they affect the middle sized arteries as they go into the organs. Most of the other types of vasculitis, such as Wegener's granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis which I have, are called small vessel vasculitis because they cause inflammation in the smallest blood vessels, the capillaries, as they supply the insides of the organs. Vasculitis is an auto-immune disease where the body's immune system attacks blood vessels instead of defending them against infection.

Wow suddenly the fear of a kidney biopsy was the least of my worries, I really had all this going on inside of my body? My body is literally attacking its self?  OH MY GOD.........