Gotta Have My Pox!

Last week my child had spots. Not freckles or dots made with a Sharpie, but actual spots. The first one I noticed was on his cheek, then I saw another behind his ear. 

No biggie, I thought, he has eczema and it flares up from time to time. Then when I picked him up from daycare the next day I noticed spots in his hands. When I asked his teacher if she had ever seen anything like that she said, "It's either chickenpox or hand foot and mouth disease." I immediately prayed for the pox! 

You are probably wondering what hand foot and mouth disease is.  I wondered the same thing. She told me basically that it was a virus that they picked up on their hands, which made their way into their mouth. Then, because babies love to put their feet in their mouths it spreads to those next giving it the name. It had spread quickly at the previous daycare she worked at.

My first thought was that it sounded like hoof and mouth disease and cringed at the thought that my child may have an illness that sounded so closely related to livestock. My second thought, "Oh please Lord let it be the pox!" I have had the pox. I know the pox. I had Caladryl lotion at home. There was nothing in the medicine cabinet that could help farm animals. Come on pox!

I called the pediatrician and described the symptoms. The spots, the fact that he had been crying out in the middle of the night and would not take his usual pacifier to console him (I thought those were side-efffects of teething). The receptionist told me they could see him at 10:00 the next morning. Awesome! I had the rest of the evening to stare at the mysterious marks and compare them to every image result from my "baby rash" Google search.

 For the young parents who may read this, a little advice … DO NOT DO THIS. It is like typing in your own random symptoms into the WebMD query box but instead of every result coming up Cancer all of the results are scabies or ringworm. Most people know that ringworm isn't actually a bug, it just has the word "worm" in the name. It is a fungus that can be treated and cured with simple over the counter medications. Scabies on the other hand is an actual mite. Mites are bugs. Bargaining with myself, I allowed ringworm to be a possible diagnosis; but held out hope for Chicken pox. Talk about the lesser of two evils. Chicken pox are swell!

Dr. E looked at all of the spots as I pointed them out to him. He listened as I described how he refused to take a pacifier and that he would cry inconsolably at night. Initially I thought these were a result of the four molars breaking through his tiny gums. He laid Aaron on the exam table, took out a tongue depressor and raised his tiny tongue. "You see this small ulcer underneath his tongue", he asked. I peered over and saw the small white bump. He lightly brushed it and Aaron screamed in pain just as he had done the past three nights in a row. Calmly he said, "It's hand foot and mouth disease." 

Pox! You have failed me!

I sighed and resigned to the fact that sometimes being a parent means having to deal with things even worse than the poopiest of diapers!  I asked, "OK. What do I do?" 

"Go to the drugstore and pick up some Lotrimun. The same thing you use for athletes foot and cover all of his spots. They are actually beginning to heal which means he is at the end of it. The tongue lesion will go away soon."  

"Is it contagious," I asked. Quickly he replied that it was and everyone in his class probably has it or has had it. I probably had as well. 

Earlier that week he had played with my best friend's son. I sent her a message telling her the news. She responded that there had been no spots on her son but there were several cases of scabies in his class. 

Hand foot and mouth disease is my new best friend.