decorahnews.com feature story: 7-year-old Decorah boy recovers from a rare medical condition with help from a Decorah doctor and Mayo Health Systems

7-year-old Tristan Hanson of Decorah with Dr. Scott Bohner

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, seven-year-old Tristan, the son of Kurt and Janice Hanson of Decorah, was throwing up, had a fever and was lethargic--symptoms of many illnesses that run through the school-age population.  But it was the presence of a rash on his mid-section that prompted Janice to bring in Tristan Monday to the office of Mayo Clinic Health System's Dr. Scott Bohner.

"Dr. Bohner gave him an overall exam and tested for strep throat, but everything came back fine," says Janice.  Tristan still showed no improvement by Friday, the day Dr. Bohner had set as a deadline for having Tristan come in for more testing.  In the meantime, Dr. Bohner had been contacting pediatric specialists at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.  The final testing at Friday's appointment pointed to what Dr. Bohner had suspected; Tristan had Kawasaki disease.

"Kawasaki disease is rare, and occurs in children," says Dr. Bohner.  "It causes inflammation of arteries throughout the body, but if treated within a window of 5 to 10 days, recovery is likely with no lasting damage to the heart."   Tristan was seen in Rochester that afternoon and by Friday evening, was admitted to Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital for IV treatment.

Before he left Mayo Children's Hospital, Tristan had an echocardiogram to check for any heart damage, which came back clear.  He has had two more echocardiograms since, and still shows no signs of damage.  "Tristan's specialist at Mayo made the comment that the heroes of Tristan's story were the little guy himself, and his local primary care doctor, who persisted to find a diagnosis," says Janice.