Scarlet Fever

Written Dec 13 2006:
(On December 8, Lucy had been feeling unwell in the morning, but fine for school).

Lucy was doing better, still coughing at night and in the morning but went to school Monday and Tuesday, we went to the Early Years Center Tuesday morning. Walked home from school yesterday, had popcorn. Then she laid down on the couch and went downhill. No dinner. Went to bed, but woke up so hot. She wouldn't take all her Motrin, even though she's usually a good medicine taker. This morning she threw up a couple times (probably from coughing), and I could see she was really sick now. Her sparkle was gone.

We went to the doctor's. We are not the type to run to the doctor's, and so, when we do, the kid is usually quite ill. Lucy laid down on the bed while we waited, and fell asleep. The doctor took her temp. and it was 40C! Yikes. So I felt bad I hadn't forced more Motrin on her. She gave her a double dose of Motrin right there in the office, told her to stay in bed with no TV (uh....sure), and gave us a prescription for antibiotics that she has to take every 4 hours. Not just 8 times/day type of thing, but every 4 hours night and day. She said she's really sick and might have a touch of pneumonia--there was some 'crackling' but it was inconsistent.

So I've got to drag a really sick girl out to Wal-Mart for medicine, and to pick up Huey after school. And Megan won't have her nap. I'm having a bad pain day, the sling I was trying to sew last night I goofed on, and Lucy's going to miss her first school concert.
Argh!!

December 15:
Someone stop the earth and let me off for a day. I need a rest.

Lucy had a red blotch on her face yesterday. Today, Huey wakes up complaining he's sick. And Lucy has a rash over her neck, chest, back, and some on her hands and arms. I read the sheet from her medicine; it says a rash can be a sign of allergic reaction. I call her doctor--not in today. The lady says to go to the ER. So much for having a doctor in a group practice. Lucy freaks about going to the hospital, but was a very good girl there. The doctor there does not confirm or dismiss the pneumonia diagnosis, but says the rash could be an allergic reaction, or it could be Scarlet Fever, based on her white tongue and enlarged tonsils. She took a swab, which won't be back until Tuesday, and like most things, the contagious period is mostly before the rash shows, and with SF, until on meds for 24 hours.  We get a different prescription.

So we get home, to hear Megan screaming from her bed and Daddy cursing. Huey's throwing up, Megan was throwing her sippy cup in the toilet, and poor Daddy can't get a thing done :)

We're not going to the family Christmas party tomorrow. In some ways, it's a relief. I got rid of some stress earlier in the week by buying a gift game present instead of trying to madly knit one and hope it works. But it would have been a stressful time there anyway.

December 17 2006:
So, it's Sunday night. Whew. Hopefully all will be back to normal tomorrow.
Lucy still has the rash, which would lead one to believe it is Scarlet fever and not an allergic reaction. However, despite Megan's very runny nose, and Huey's tummy troubles (He feels everything in his tummy), neither of them have the rash. Lucy is feeling better, but still has quite an attitude problem! Megan is cranky a lot, Huey is irritable, I'm sleepy, and Daddy is going insane, having been home for four days!

December 20 2006:
Looking back, I see I never concluded the mystery of Lucy's illness. After my post on Friday I went to Wal-Mart to drop off the new prescription. They said it'd be an hour, so I went home. Went back almost an hour later, spent 10 minutes staring at all the cold remedies, pain relievers, etc for kids. Why do they make no-name acetaminophen for kids/infants, but not no-name ibuprofen? I went to get the prescription. Oh, it's not ready. Ummm, the computer's not saying 'where' it is (the computer can tell the clerk if it's started getting filled, sitting in the drawer, or whatever). So I sit on the bench while she 'just looks after this next person' and the next, and the next, and the never ending line of people after them. I butt in and ask again. Oh, yeah...still no clue. I waited on the hard wooden bench for 50 MINUTES AFTER IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE READY! And I DIDN"T HAVE MY KNITTING!! ARGH!! Rob's totally pissed when I get home cause he had to stop working on the powder room again. I'm almost seeing double I'm so freakin tired. It was not fun!

On Monday afternoon the doctor's office phones, leaves a message to call back. So I did, and of course the lady says "Can I put you on hold?" and of course I said "Sure." Well, 10 minutes later I was still on hold. So I hung up and called back. For 10 minutes I got a busy signal. I was certain that when I finally got through they'd be closed, LOL.

The swab was positive for strep throat--the same bacteria that causes Scarlet Fever. AND, another girl in her class is suspected to have just had SF. So, we're going with that, and not an allergic reaction, which is good because she is hating the penicillin. But the cough is not a symptom of SF, so who knows.

No one else has the rash, but man, Megan is driving me batty. Poor sleep, up very early again. And she doesn't respond to any of the sleep 'remedies'! She starts the night out good--while I'm still up and having my 'child-free time' but by the time I get to sleep, she starts waking up way too frequently. Last night she was up at 1:30, nursed quite well and went back to sleep. But woke at 2:30 having a temper tantrum! I thought maybe it's the reflux again; there was corn in her dinner; maybe a burp....no! So I made a bottle and she drank 4 oz, which is pretty good for her, but why didn't she just nurse longer at 1:30? I was pretty much asleep then, LOL, it's hard to sleep while giving a bottle! Then she was up at 6:25!! Like, I mean, up for the day. Same thing yesterday. She had a short morning nap yesterday, and napped for the walk to school, but the rest of the day was totally miserable. Today I managed to keep her awake all morning (we didn't go out anywhere) and she was asleep in the truck before I even got Lucy in to take her to school! So, it's quiet here and I'm going to go have my coffee and watch my stupid soap opera :)

March 2012 (or 2011?):
Lucy gets sick and is put on amoxicillin.  After about a week, we notice (while away in Bancroft at Mom and Dad's), that suddenly her cheeks and upper body are blotchy red.  I take some pictures and show my doctor when we get home.  Yes, Lucy is allergic to penicillin.  So.  What does this mean for the mysterious illness she had in December 2006?  I don't know what the first medicine was, just that the second one was penicillin.  At least, I think they switched meds when we went to the ER, I don't recall.  It's possible that she had scarlet fever AND an allergic reaction.  I have read that you get very swollen with SF, and she wasn't.  But it would be strange that the first allergic reaction started so quickly when the next one (that we recall), took a week.

October 2012:
Lucy had a lump on a baby molar and we visited the dentist, who advised getting it removed.  He was informed on Lucy's penicillin allergy, so he went over to the pharmacist in the drugstore across the hall to ask him.  He came back over to speak with us, and recommended a different antibiotic, and said if she's allergic to that, there's not much else left for this sort of thing.  She started taking it, and a week later, on Halloween, I noticed her ears and cheeks were red.  Thinking it was just the wind, she went out trick or treating.  When she got home, they were more red, AND her arms were blotchy.  A trip to the doctors confirmed she's allergic to sulpha drugs too.  Just recently, Rob's mom had an infection, and after a week on a sulpha drug, she developed a rash.  So, now we use Biaxcin, we'll see how long this one works...there's been a couple prescriptions over the past two years and no rashes.