PLAGUE!!!
khannor has been under rather itchy as of late, mostly his neck and head. His eyes have been swollen and red, also itchy. Given the Con-man's history of excema and allergies, I gave an inward groan. We have recently switched laundry detergents, had a run of beautiful but pollen-y weather, played outside with the dog every day, introduced new foods, started using the air conditioner in his room, started new vitamins, mowed about 2 acres around our house, and become increasingly interested in the cat. Well Connor has, anyway. I cleaned extra hard to make sure dust mites weren't the cause. But what to do next?
farmerdrizzt compared it to fixing a car. "Why isn't it running right? What has changed?"
I began to plan my methodical elimination of all recent modifications of the Connormobile. Suddenly, a rash popped up on the back of his neck and possibly his scalp, it's hard to say with the hair. It's obviously maddeningly itchy, but doesn't really look like hives. I started giving him Benadryl and Motrin. He seemed to feel a bit better. He acted normal, maybe a little clingier than usual.
This morning we went to Cool Springs for
julianakin 's Pinewood Derby. He already took 2nd place in his Den and 3rd place in his Pack. This was District Level. (YAY, JULIAN!!!!!) My whole family was there to cheer him on. It was awesome. So we were at the mall, waiting for his number to be called, when we noticed Connor's rash was REALLY getting worse. We planned to go to the walk-in clinic as soon as Julian was through. Julian came back over to tell us something, and we noticed how RED his face was. Like a sunburn, but pale around the mouth. His arms and chest looked flushed and he felt warm to me. Hmmm. He finished the race (alas, no trophy this time. Just wait 'till next year!), and we went to the food court grab a quick bite before heading to the clinic, because then who knows when we would eat next? We got to the clinic, and Connor wobbled around the waiting room, charming the teen girl with the sprained ankle. We finally got seen, and the nurse practioner said she thought their rashes were unrelated. Connor's was probably excema (except excema doesn't look like that) and Julian's was probably some virus, but she'd ask a doc to see him just to be sure. After a loooong time, she came back with a very pleasant man who started playing with Connor while asking Julian how he was feeling. I liked him. He ordered a throat culture on both of them, then vanished to wherever doctors go. Throat culture completed, the N.P. came back and said they were both positive for strep. They both got shots of penicillin, and we were herded out the door.
It occurred to me after we got home that nobody had actually said what the rash was, or how long we should keep the boy out of school (although I grabbed a note excusing him for Monday as we dashed out the door. Truancy court, my ass!), or anything like that. So I hopped onto my favorite oracle, also known as my laptop. I consulted the intarwebs for strep and rash. Turns out there is only one strep infection that causes a rash, and it's commonly known as Scarlet Fever. SCARLET FEVER??? What freaking YEAR is it???? A few calls and some checking around later, and yes, it's Scarlet Fever. What the hell?
They should be fine in 4-10 days, depending on when they actually got it. The shots should make them feel much better in 48 hours. The next 24 are gonna be a bitch, though. It gets worse before it gets better. My POOR MISERABLE BABIES!!!! Actually, they seem to feel ok, just a lot quieter around here than normal. Here's hoping farmerD and I (and of course my family and all the scouts we were around today) are spared. We really just thought it was allergies!!!!