After returning home from our big vacation, we got right back into the swing of things. Ed and I went off to work and Jack hung out with his babysitter Ashley, went to school for a couple of days, and by Saturday morning he was sick. He had eaten a decent breakfast but was acting a little bit off. He didn’t have a fever so I just brushed it off. When Ed got home from work that morning we decided to head down to the beach to enjoy the sun and ocean.
We played for a little over an hour and suddenly Jack wanted to leave. He NEVER wants to leave the beach. It was nearly lunchtime so we rode back home and made him his favorite…pizza! He seemed excited about it, but when we all sat down to eat he took one tiny bite and then just kind of looked at it. Ed and I were both concerned. He had his little hands clasped together and looked kind of worried. “What’s wrong buddy?” He had a strange look on his face.I felt his forehead and he was warm. I ran upstairs to get the thermometer and just as we expected…fever…101. Hmmm.
We gave him Motrin and put him on the couch with a cup of juice with ice in it. It wasn’t quite time for his nap so we let him watch part of his latest favorite movie, Monsters Inc. After it had been about 45 minutes I checked his temperature again and it was…103. WTH? I gave him some Tylenol and began assessing what the possible culprit could be. He wasn’t breathing hard or coughing. I got out my stethoscope and checked his lungs, they were clear. There had not been any vomiting or diarrhea. I watched him closely and noticed he was drooling a little. Must be the throat or possibly ears.
We put him down for his nap, checking his temp frequently to make sure it wasn’t going up. It got down to about 99.0 but as soon as the medicines started wearing off it started creeping up again. Still no other symptoms were present. Well at this point you start to figure out if it’s a virus or a bacteria source. We figured we would give it overnight and if he showed no signs of getting better we would take him into the ER Sunday.
Overnight we set our alarms and continued with the Tylenol/Motrin combo. He started coughing…and coughing…and coughing. We noticed his throat was hoarse. It was this barking, dry cough that sounded awful. Both of us were getting a little nervous and by 5:30-6:00 in the morning we decided to go ahead and bring him in. At least it wouldn’t be crowded.
We took him in and the doctor verified that his throat was indeed red with white pustules; he also had a fine, raised, red rash (on top of his old rash that was still healing). The diagnosis?Strep throat with scarlet fever. Great.
It is VERY rare, almost unheard of, for kids under 3 years old to get strep throat. Jack has now had it twice. He goes to school for 3 hours twice a week, no daycare. Ed got frustrated at one point and exploded with the comment, “That’s it! No more school!” I laughed and although I completely get where he was coming from I know that we can’t keep Jack in a bubble. He will go to school at some point. He will get sick. This new baby will get sick even more because Jack will bring home germs from school. It’s just going to happen. Ed agreed with me, but I understand how frustrating it is.
Monday morning we called the pediatrician’s office and took him in so she could take a look at him. She confirmed the diagnosis of strep throat and was a little concerned about how swollen his throat and tonsils were. She kept him on the antibiotic prescribed by the ER doctor and wrote an additional prescription for steroids to help decrease the inflammation in his throat.
So long story short Jack was pretty darn sick from Saturday until Wednesday. He laid around, watched movies, took 3-4 hour naps, drank a lot of juice, ate popsicles, and rested. I know he felt terrible because he NEVER does these things. He is FINALLY feeling better thank goodness. I personally have cabin fever and can’t wait to get back to work on Saturday. I know that sounds terrible, but it was awful being cooped up in the house with a sick, miserable kid.The steroids made him awake even though he was exhausted. He would just sit there and cry because he couldn’t fall asleep and his throat hurt. Poor baby.
Is there a tonsillectomy in our future? Only time will tell.
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