Hoof and Mouth Disease?! Huh??

We’ve been having fun here in the Joynerzone since last Friday. As I mentioned before, Colby was diagnosed with an ear infection. He had a rough couple of days with fevers, but that got better and he seemed much better, but continued to wake up frequently. No fun! Also, he developed a rash on his feet that we noticed after his morning nap on Saturday. We decided to watch it to see what happened. By Sunday, the rash had “spread” up his legs and onto his bottom and onto his trunk. Didn’t really seem to be much if any spots on his arms or face. Decided to call the nurse-line to see what they thought. Yes, I know I’m a nurse, but I don’t do pediatrics! Anyway, based on the description and discussion with the nurse, we determined that it sounded like an “Amoxicillin Rash” which is NOT an allergy to the medication, but just a side effect that some people get. It doesn’t prevent him from having the medication again and likely he won’t have that happen the next time he takes the medication. Anyway, it’s not an itchy rash and it started going away a few days later. It’s been gone for a few days and we still have more of the antibiotic to finish. So, we were thankful it wasn’t an allergy since Amoxicillin is such a great antibiotic!

Anyway, as we were dealing with his ear infection and rash, on Monday morning, Abriella started acting slightly off as well. SHE told ME that I needed to call the doctor! HA! So, after questioning her about her ailment, making sure she just didn’t want some more of the pink medicine for herself (she wanted Colby’s when we brought it home…because she really did love hers from her recent ear infxn), I also took her temperature, as she did feel slightly warm. She had a very low-grade fever, but nothing impressive at all. She was complaining of her ear hurting (the same one that had been infected recently). After watching her lay around and whine a bit, I decided to go ahead and visit the walk-in clinic again…! So, Monday, I drug her and Colby back to the doctor’s office.

After sitting in the waiting room for an hour with a very restless Colby and a 2 yr old saying, “Mommy, I don’t feel good” we finally were called back. (note for the “baby” book–she weighed 29 lbs and was 3 ft 1 in tall). The doctor came in and talked to Abriella. She looked in the suspect ear and said it had some fluid, but not infected. Said the antibiotics had cleared it up nicely. Other ear, perfect. Also, noted the darkness under Ab’s eyes and “wrinkles” under her eyes, and said looks like she has allergies and would probably benefit from allergy medicine. And, here we thought she just never had enough sleep! Anyway, she continued her exam by looking into her mouth…AHA! She had lots of blisters on her throat! HUH?! That would explain why she hadn’t been eating much for a few days. Doctor said she had Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease (Coxsackievirus)! So, despite what you may be thinking, it is NOT Hoof & Mouth Disease, which is an animal disease. Coxsackievirus is a pesky little virus that kids pass around (adults can get it too), and I’m sure it’s probably something one of her friends at school shared with her! And, since it’s a virus, there is NOT A SINGLE THING TO DO ABOUT IT EXCEPT TREAT THE SYMPTOMS!

Well, Abriella seemed calm enough, so I figured it wasn’t a big deal, although the doctor did warn me to “be on the lookout” for vomiting and diarrhea! Like I would miss that! Well, Abriella started going downhill pretty soon after that visit to the doctor. Always amazed at how that happens! She started running a constant fever and was just crying and miserable. Lots of rocking and tylenol and motrin. That evening, Stephen and I both put her to bed. I was rocking her and Stephen was reading to her. She was moaning and restless. After a few minutes, she sat back on my lap, looked at me, and then it happened!! VOMIT!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF VOMIT!!! All over me, all in the rocker, all over the blanket she was wrapped in (because she was shaking from her fever), on the floor. I just sat there while she hurled over and over again until she was done. Then, she looked at us and said, “I slobbered.” HAHAHA!! Uh, no honey, that is NOT slobber! Poor child didn’t have a word to use as she has never thrown up in her life! She has been blessed to be so healthy for sure. So, we had a little vocab lesson on the words to use for what had just happened. We cleaned her up, cleaned the floor, dragged the chair out of the room, and then put her to bed. She felt better after that (at least for the time being).

She had several days of fever and just misery. Crying with most things that she would try to eat. Finally perked up some on Wednesday and more so on Thursday. Still complains about her mouth and isn’t eating much because she’ll try to eat something and it just hurts! Poor baby! She still has sores in her mouth. We can actually see them on her tongue now, too. She did have a rash on her body that we noticed on Thursday evening, but that was gone in the morning. Likely was related. We haven’t noticed any blisters on her hands or feet, just the mouth. Since she still has blisters, we’re going to keep her home from church tomorrow.

We figure it’s just a matter of time before Colby ends up with this! That makes me really sad! I’m praying that if he does get it, that he has a VERY MILD case!!

So, needless to say, we’ve had a great week! Thank the Lord that David and Janet were here to help out on Tuesday and part of the day Wednesday. It was so helpful to have others to help love on both kiddos! They definitely got suckered by the 2 yr old on Tuesday night though! They offered to baby-sit while Stephen and I got out for a little while. All they had to do was put Abriella to bed. No biggie. Well, Stephen and I went to eat at Texas Roadhouse–YUMMY–and then wandered around Target. I know, I know, but hey, it was fun! When we get home, we walk in and are greeted by Abriella, who cheerfully says, “Hi Daddy!” I thought that she must’ve needed something and they had brought her into the living room for a minute…until I heard Veggie Tales playing on David’s computer…hmmm. Not thinking that David and Janet snuggle up to watch Veggie Tales at night, so I quickly surmised that we had a 2 yr old that somehow suckered her grandparents into letting her stay up!!

David tried to justify his actions (Janet said she tried to talk him out of it!), but it all boils down to this. Grandparents sometimes just take extra liberties, whether or not they are wise! Apparently, David had gone through all the bedtime stories and prayers and songs with Abriella and ended with…”If you need anything, you can come in there with us and sleep between us.” Of course, as soon as he says this, the child (not born yesterday, I tell you!) says, “I want to go with you.” Then the Pap-paw (who apparently lost his mind! just kidding, David! it’s all in fun, you know!) let her go with him into the living room!! Doh! Not sure how Veggie Tales entered the picture. We quit asking questions. Thankfully, the child slept til nearly 10:30 the next morning…you know, since she was SICK! Sick children need their sleep! 🙂

Anyway, that was a really long post about our week. Probably could’ve been covered in a couple of sentences, but what fun would that be?! I like to irritate David with my word-picture ratio in my posts! hehe!

So, a few pictures. Here is Abriella ante-sickness. Fun with shaving cream.

Here are some pictures from Friday when I took them to the park. We were going stir-crazy being in the house all week! I also took them to the mall. Sorry everyone. I figure there are so many germs at those two places anyway that ours aren’t going to be a big deal! 🙂

Park- March 2010

Happy first day of Spring. We’ve been celebrating this day by bundling up while dealing with an Arctic Blast! Seriously cold weather here! And, the wind is ridiculous!! Hope this moves on quickly!

We’re ready for some warm weather and healthy kids!!