A case of the pinks.
So we have our first bout of pinkeye. :-(
Jack's eyes (both of them at the same time) looked a bit puffy by yesterday afternoon, and by evening, he was beginning to produce some goop - clear, but it was more than just normal tears. Since he had an onslaught of sniffly nose, itchy ears and itchy throat hit at the exact same time, I hoped that it was just a case of him developing the daily allergies that both A.J. and I suffer from instead. Plus with a glorious weekend where everything began blooming, it was certainly plausible.
So I gave him some Children's Benadryl Allergy chewable tablets and a warm bath to clear out the goop and put him to bed. Throughout the early evening, I heard him tossing and turning, and I could tell he was just generally uncomfortable. I tried rubbing his back and then his feet to help relax him, and he wasn't really able to pinpoint enough to verbalize what he needed. I decided that maybe - since he'd been practically falling over in his dinner - he had reached exhaustion and was just too tired to sleep, so maybe a distraction would work. I asked him if he'd like to listen to his radio softly, and he agreed. I turned it on, and within ten minutes' time, he was OUT.
Still, he'd already lost over two hours of his usual sleep. Plus with not knowing for sure whether we were dealing with pinkeye or allergies, I played it cautious and kept him home from preschool anyway. I tried to get him an acute appointment at the clinic, but all the appointments were already booked by 8am when I called. They set an appointment for 2pm tomorrow, but that was the best they could do. I spoke with a triage nurse, and she advised me to come in to the Urgent Care Center (ie. emergency room) if things worsened.
And they did. Jack's eyes began making MUCH more goop, and the color changed to a yellowish-green, rather than clear/white. So after we picked up A.J. from school, we packed some snacks and some tatting, and we headed to the UCC. All told, we were there for about 2.5 hours. Jack was running a fever by the time we got back to Triage (101.7), and his eyes had gooped up quite a bit more, so the doctor was able to clearly see the color/consistency. The glands in his throat were swollen pretty badly too, and he was beginning to complain about his "saliva hurting when I swallow." Poor guy.
The doctor did a couple throat swabs as well, scraping some of the "yellowish ooze" from the back of his throat (what he said), but the Strep A culture came back negative. There's a chance it might turn into something, and if it does, they'll call us and start him on an oral antibiotic. For the meantime, however, he has antibiotic eye drops to use for the next week, and hopefully this will go away quickly and completely.
And not pass to either A.J. or me - let's not forget that part, either. Since conjunctivitis is highly contagious, I've already asked for the instructions as to when to begin treatment for either one of us, should we need it. Even still, for the past two days now, there's been massive amounts of washing hands and using hand sanitizer going on around here - just in case.
The pharmacy was closed before we left the clinic, so we went to Target to pick up Jack's prescription. He chose orange for his color band (Target assigns a color to each family member, to prevent medicine mix-ups), and the drops were ready in about five minutes. I took my blood pressure while we were waiting, and it was a healthy 116/76. So far, I've never ever had an elevated blood pressure result. *knocks on wood*
We came home, put the drops in his eyes and then chilled for a bit. I'd run into Ryan while at Target, and despite the diagnosis, he still wanted me to attend the staff meeting tonight at Runza. The boys were excited to eat there, though Jack just chose a small cup of soup for his ailing throat instead of a kids' meal.
Now the boys have had baths/showers, and I've re-dropped Jack's eyes. He's in bed, and I hope for a more restful evening than he experienced last night.
Jack's eyes (both of them at the same time) looked a bit puffy by yesterday afternoon, and by evening, he was beginning to produce some goop - clear, but it was more than just normal tears. Since he had an onslaught of sniffly nose, itchy ears and itchy throat hit at the exact same time, I hoped that it was just a case of him developing the daily allergies that both A.J. and I suffer from instead. Plus with a glorious weekend where everything began blooming, it was certainly plausible.
So I gave him some Children's Benadryl Allergy chewable tablets and a warm bath to clear out the goop and put him to bed. Throughout the early evening, I heard him tossing and turning, and I could tell he was just generally uncomfortable. I tried rubbing his back and then his feet to help relax him, and he wasn't really able to pinpoint enough to verbalize what he needed. I decided that maybe - since he'd been practically falling over in his dinner - he had reached exhaustion and was just too tired to sleep, so maybe a distraction would work. I asked him if he'd like to listen to his radio softly, and he agreed. I turned it on, and within ten minutes' time, he was OUT.
Still, he'd already lost over two hours of his usual sleep. Plus with not knowing for sure whether we were dealing with pinkeye or allergies, I played it cautious and kept him home from preschool anyway. I tried to get him an acute appointment at the clinic, but all the appointments were already booked by 8am when I called. They set an appointment for 2pm tomorrow, but that was the best they could do. I spoke with a triage nurse, and she advised me to come in to the Urgent Care Center (ie. emergency room) if things worsened.
And they did. Jack's eyes began making MUCH more goop, and the color changed to a yellowish-green, rather than clear/white. So after we picked up A.J. from school, we packed some snacks and some tatting, and we headed to the UCC. All told, we were there for about 2.5 hours. Jack was running a fever by the time we got back to Triage (101.7), and his eyes had gooped up quite a bit more, so the doctor was able to clearly see the color/consistency. The glands in his throat were swollen pretty badly too, and he was beginning to complain about his "saliva hurting when I swallow." Poor guy.
The doctor did a couple throat swabs as well, scraping some of the "yellowish ooze" from the back of his throat (what he said), but the Strep A culture came back negative. There's a chance it might turn into something, and if it does, they'll call us and start him on an oral antibiotic. For the meantime, however, he has antibiotic eye drops to use for the next week, and hopefully this will go away quickly and completely.
And not pass to either A.J. or me - let's not forget that part, either. Since conjunctivitis is highly contagious, I've already asked for the instructions as to when to begin treatment for either one of us, should we need it. Even still, for the past two days now, there's been massive amounts of washing hands and using hand sanitizer going on around here - just in case.
The pharmacy was closed before we left the clinic, so we went to Target to pick up Jack's prescription. He chose orange for his color band (Target assigns a color to each family member, to prevent medicine mix-ups), and the drops were ready in about five minutes. I took my blood pressure while we were waiting, and it was a healthy 116/76. So far, I've never ever had an elevated blood pressure result. *knocks on wood*
We came home, put the drops in his eyes and then chilled for a bit. I'd run into Ryan while at Target, and despite the diagnosis, he still wanted me to attend the staff meeting tonight at Runza. The boys were excited to eat there, though Jack just chose a small cup of soup for his ailing throat instead of a kids' meal.
Now the boys have had baths/showers, and I've re-dropped Jack's eyes. He's in bed, and I hope for a more restful evening than he experienced last night.