A note was sent home from Dreux's daycare that there was an "outbreak" and parents were encouraged to monitor their children for the virus. Dreux appeared to be fine until she woke up one Sunday morning with greenish discharge coming from her eyes! "Oh great she has pink eye again", I'm thinking. We took her to the emergency room and found out she had a double ear infection which somehow affected her eyes. Antibiotics and eye drops were prescribed and she was cleared to return to school. As we were leaving the hospital I noticed a slight rash on her elbow. We ruled it dry and/or irritated skin and were instructed to switch soaps. That night the rash grew. Now covering her knee caps, it appeared this rash wasn't due to dry skin. I checked her hands and feet and inside her mouth looking for clues that the rash was related to hand foot and mouth...nothing! We were told that Dreux had a 10% chance of developing an allergy to the meds due to her allergy to penicillin. Boom! This is an allergic reaction. Back to the doctor we go to get yet another prescription. By this time the "rash" had begun to appear on her hands and her ears. "If she isn't running a fever and is acting her normal self, chances are she's fine". I've heard this phrase for the last 2 years by practically every doctor we have seen. But that's not true. When we first arrived at the ER Sunday morning, Dreux had a "raging" ear infection (as the doctor so eloquently put it). However she had only experienced a very low grade fever the night before. She never tugged on her ear and didn't appear sick or anything.
With the new meds in her system we figured things were on the up-and-up. That was until Thursdsy when I went to work. I felt horrible! Sore throat, fatigue, nausea, chills! I'm catching the flu! When I got off I drove myself to urgent care. (If you know me, I had to have been feeling terrible to make myself go.) I was diagnosed with an ear infection. I sat in the office as she wrote my prescription for antibiotics and continued to scratch my wrist! Geez this watch is really irritating me today I kept thinking. I had noticed a small red mark earlier and was surprised that the same mark was still there.
That night my fever spiked and my head was pounding! I've never felt worse. I stood up off the couch and as the rug brushed against my foot, I had this incredible itching sensation right in the middle of the bottom of my foot. To my surprise another bright red spot very similar to the one on my wrist, was on my foot. It was then I realized Dreux really did have hand foot and mouth disease and now Mommie had it too! Dreux had developed a few red spots on the tips of her fingers and toes but nothing compared to what was to come with me! For the next couple of days I was bound to the couch as the blisters had completely taken over my hands and feet- which by the way made it very difficult to walk. My hands were inflamed as I practically scratched my fingers off from the itch! It was like mosquito bite meets chickenpox gone terribly bad! This virus clearly affects adults differently from children. Dreux showed little to no signs and here I am looking like a beautiful red leopard by the hands and feet.
I'm feeling 100% better but was a little embarrassed at first. How childish of me to get a virus that appears in children under 10! LOL Stress from work compromised my immune system and made be more susceptible to the virus. I seriously need to take some vitamins to boost this immune system of mine and stop stressing! She's two now but I'm sure there is ALOT more to come. Mommie would prefer is Dreux left those germs at school!
