CLYDE, N.C. (WLOS) \u2014 Twelve-year-old Rowan Lowry spends his days gaming online, building with Lego bricks and joking with his brother and sister.<\/p>\n
But Rowan has also faced challenges far beyond what most children experience.<\/p>\n
When he was 7, Rowan was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, a rare illness that causes inflammation in the blood vessels and can affect the heart if it is not treated quickly. The CDC estimates the disease affects about 5,000 children in the United States each year.<\/p>\n
Rowan\u2019s mother, Cheryl Presnall, said the diagnosis was terrifying for their family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had never heard of it once they said Kawasaki,\u201d Presnall said. \u201cI think both of us looked at each other and went, like, the motorcycle? And we were just like, that\u2019s a thing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowan\u2019s father, Joshua Lowry, said his son first became unusually lethargic before developing a fever. For about 15 days, the family said Rowan\u2019s symptoms were attributed to other possible illnesses, including allergies and sinus issues.<\/p>\n
HUNDREDS RUN MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS 5K IN SUPPORT OF COUNSELING CENTER<\/a><\/p>\n Symptoms of Kawasaki disease can include a high fever, rash, swelling or peeling of the hands and feet, and bloodshot eyes.<\/p>\n Jane Burns, director of the Kawasaki Disease Research Center at the University of California San Diego, said delayed diagnosis can lead to lasting heart damage.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the diagnosis is delayed and if the disease isn\u2019t recognized at all, one in four children will have permanent damage to the heart,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n The Lowrys say Rowan developed multiple aortic aneurysms after his diagnosis was delayed. He underwent open-heart surgery last year.<\/p>\n Despite the difficult moments, Rowan\u2019s parents say his humor and resilience help carry their family through each new procedure and appointment.<\/p>\n NONPROFIT LEGAL TEAM HELPS N.C. MEDICAID PATIENTS WIN BENEFITS APPEALS<\/a><\/p>\n Now, they are speaking out in hopes that other parents recognize the symptoms early and seek medical attention.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can help any parent just be able to notice and acknowledge the early symptoms to prevent something like this from happening to another child,\u201d Joshua Lowry said.<\/p>\n For Rowan\u2019s family, raising awareness is about helping other children avoid the outcome their son has faced.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> for more information on Kawasaki disease.<\/p>\n You can click here<\/a> for Rowan\u2019s GoFundMe. You can click here<\/a> for Rowan\u2019s Amazon Wishlist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLYDE, N.C. (WLOS) \u2014 Twelve-year-old Rowan Lowry spends his days gaming online, building with Lego bricks and joking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[97],"class_list":["post-855527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}