Sick...Sick...Sick...

The past week hasn't been much fun.

Ben got sick Saturday night, with what we thought was Strep Throat, we were wrong. He had a very sore throat, fever and chills. Sunday wasn't much better. By Sunday night, Clay was complaining of a sore throat. I woke up Monday and tried to get ahold of our ENT, who was out of town until Wednesday. I figured Ben might be dead if I waited that long, so I called the pediatrician and set up an appointment for Clay...and brought Ben along with me.

When we got to the Dr's Office, Clay claimed to be feeling fine (which of course made me feel like an overly concerned parent). Go figure. I mentioned that Clay had some red spots in his mouth when I had looked at it Sunday night, not knowing if they were still there or if the information was at all relevant. It was.

Clay, Ben and Quin were all diagnosed with Hand, Foot and Mouth. They had tons of red sores in their mouths and Ben's was the worst, as it had begun much sooner. Quin's had just started that morning (no spots Sunday night) so he got off much easier than the others. Clay and Quin had to stay home from school Monday and Tuesday because they were still contagious. Ali and Jack seemed fine at the time. I was really hoping they'd miss out. No such luck.

Ali started getting sores on her hands, legs and feet by Tuesday. I called the office and they told me to start her on the Acyclovir because she most likely had caught what her brothers had. Wednesday night I noticed the sores were getting MUCH bigger and they were multiplying. I went to my neighbors (who works at the Pediatrician's office) and had her take a look...it wasn't Hand, Foot and Mouth, but Mersa (not sure on the spelling). It's a strep bacteria that, more or less, eats your skin and destroys tissue. It's VERY contagious! Apparently she caught it from the neighbor, who'd gotten it the weekend before.

We put her on Septra, it's only one of the VERY FEW antibiotics that are effective against the Mersa. After starting her on the antibiotics I did notice some improvement. The sores stopped weeping, but this morning I noticed they had continued to spread. She had SEVERAL new spots all over her upper thighs when she woke up so we had to start her on ANOTHER antibiotic tonight, Clindamycin. The combination of the two antibiotics is suppose to be very effective, I'm hoping they are!

Poor little Ali has been wearing long pants, long sleeve shirts or a short sleeve shirt with a sweater over top, socks (on her feet AND her hands) to cover up all her sores. It's so hard to keep chasing after her spraying everything and wiping everything she touches...no fun. She's done really well with it and it's cut down on the scratching, which is helping to keep the sores from spreading and oozing. I've had to wash all the bedding, clothes, towels, wash rags, cups, etc...that Ali uses. She slept in my bed one night and played in Quin's bed yesterday so I spent all day yesterday washing everyone's bedding.

It also sucks because I have no babysitters...no body wants to get near us, imagine that! I'm hoping the introduction of this second antibiotic stops the spreading and ends the contagious period. That will be nice. I just want her to get better, and I'd rather not have to spend time in the hospital.

The Pharmacist said the medications will be very hard on her stomach, so I've had her take acidophilus and eat lots of yogurt. Hopefully she'll get enough good bacteria in her to help combat the eradication of the bacteria caused by the antibiotics. The last thing I want now is to have her get a bad stomach ache, or diaper rash, because of the antibiotics.

Anyhow, that's our story. We're still working on the new house and trying to stay on top of everyone's health and keep things clean. We're hoping to have more done this weekend, but I suppose that will depend (as always) on how everyone's feeling. The boys have been tons better yesterday and today, so I think they're over it, but time will tell how Ali does. Wish us luck! (We're going to need it!!!)