No Fun for Mom

Sick kids are not fun. In no way shape or form are they fun. They are so miserable, they get cranky, they whine, they are snotty (figuratively and actually), and did I say they can make you miserable with them.

You know when your kid is getting sick. It's a look in the eye, a behavior change, their color, eating habits...something changes. If you have more than 1 child, you also know that no one has the same symptoms at the same time either. So as one starts to rip back into life...another bites the dust.

One could say that the only thing worse than a sick child is a sick husband. Ahem. But alas that's a different post.

Gunnar has had a really itchy rash on the backs of his legs. That was his only complaint. He itched. It got to the point that he was scratching off his skin about a month ago...so we went to the doctors. We left with an allergy diagnosis, a tube of Benadryl, and a request to stop wearing overnight diapers.

Things never got any worse, but the thing is that they didn't get better either. However, we were told that it would take time. So time we gave it.

Earlier this week, I was out in the yard digging a garden, and I heard that worried call for Mommy that every Mom dreads. We know that call means nothing good will come from it.

With a heavy heart and a churning stomach from what I might find, I entered the bathroom. I found a blood soaked Gunnar. He stood there frozen. I gasped, asked what happened, and started wiping him down to see where it was all coming from. To my surprise, it was coming from everywhere but where I expected. He had scrapes and cuts on his legs, across his chest the side of his face.

I got him cleaned up and decided that there was no more time to be had. This rash had to go.

4 doctors later, a strep test, and 4 hours...we found out. Gunnar has Strep Throat that has migrated to Scarlet Fever. The itching that had led to all that scratching, well the scratching caused a skin infection. His immune system was in overdrive from the infections and the allergens in the air.

This time we were sent home with some Claritin Samples, a prescription for an oral antibiotic, a prescription for a topical antibiotic, and a steroid.

By the way, there was no indication that my child was sick. He never ran a fever, never complained, never got the look in his eyes, never became  hostile or overly cuddly. There were no signs.

Now we are dealing with the prescriptions that are giving him fits of rage...that happens every time he is on a steroid. We are dealing with the cocktail that is counteracting his sleeping medication. His being miserable from all the meds that he is on, the fun he can't have because of them.

All of this just crushes my heart. Kids get sick, I know that better than most, but I didn't catch it. What kind of parent does that make me. The doctors all say that even they had no indication that he was this sick, they just had run out of options and decided to test for it. I wish sometimes that Gunnar could be a bit better of a communicator, but until then, we are a bit wiser, a bit more cautious, and more vigilent...and we now know to test for everything and not assume.