It's been a long few days here. Thursday Matthew woke up with a rash on his body, and an acne like rash on his face. Open his mouth, and his tongue had spots like seeds on a strawberry. Guess what that was? Yep, you guessed it, Scarlet Fever, and Impetigo. I tried to call for an appointment only to be told there were none. The nurse said if the pain from the sore throat was more then he could stand, take him to the ER. Hmm, take him to the ER or get up early, call the clinic and take a chance on no appointments again. We decided on the ER. We waited for 2 hours. No one came out of the back to leave, no one was called from the waiting room to the back, and maybe 2 guys came in for treatment. No one appeared to be critical. Sure as heck was a good thing too, cause they would have died waiting. Once they started calling people back it wasn't long before they called for Matthew. We sat in a curtain room for about 40 minutes before a doctor even came in there. I would have rather been stuck in the waiting room March Madness Basketball! One good thing, there was a small blood pressure cuff left hooked up to the machine. It kept trying measure the air pressure (apparently) of the room about every 10 minutes. So I let Matthew play with it. That made him happy for quite a while. Especially when he figured out if you squeezed it a few times it came up with an inaccurate reading, and would refill again over and over. He was quite amused with this. Finally the doctor came in, and told me my diagnosis was correct. Aren't we mom's always right about what our kids have anyway? So he prescribed some meds, gave them to us, and sent us on our way. Once we got home, and I opened the cephalexin it smelled horrible. I KNEW my child was not going to take this. I tried anyway, and I was right. So I mixed it with Kool-aid, and he still wouldn't drink it. I let him go with the few sips he took, and let him fall asleep on the couch. The next morning I mixed it with his chocolate milk, and loaded it with way too much chocolate so as to try and mask the taste. It was to no avail. My smart child knew it was there, and said he could still taste it. I called the triage nurse and tried to get her to have the prescription changed, but the ER people wouldn't do it. The nurse told me that she used to be a school nurse, and shared her trick. Popsicles. They freeze the taste buds, therefore the child can't taste the medicine. Works like a charm! Three bits of popsicle, and down the medicine goes without a struggle. It *is* a bit annoying when it's near bedtime, and time for the 4th dose of the day, and you have to go through the whole popsicle thing. Whatever works, and we only have to go through this for another 6 days!

 

Now Caitlin also has Scarlet Fever again, and strep throat. Luckily Matthew's impetigo was caught and treated early enough that it doesn't look like any of the rest of us will get it. All this from one little strep bacteria! Caitlin was out of school for the remainder of today, and will be out tomorrow. Luckily she gets to go back Wednesday, the last day before spring break, for the egg hunt, and ice cream party. I would hate for her to miss those. Especially since I have already sent in needed items to help out.

Caitlin's visit to the doctor today was not uneventful either. Her appointment was at 11am. We were there 15 minutes early, as told. One hour, and 10 minutes past 11 we were finally called into an exam room. We sat in that room for another 20 minutes. Wouldn't you know, I had to take Matthew with me, so the two together were extremely restless after all this time, and trying really hard to work my nerves. The doctor (actually PA) did a good job asking Caitlin all the right questions. It was cute that he let her be the grown up and tell him how she was feeling. Then of course, he asked me if it was all accurate, and she did a pretty good job on her own. We sat in the pharmacy for quite a while today, as per the norm at this hospital/clinic. Luckily the doc gave Caitlin Azythromax instead of something nasty. It's the best antibiotic ever. You take it once a day for 5 days on an empty stomach. That's it. It's done! It was 2pm by the time we made it home today (came straight home, and we live less then 5 minutes from the hospital/clinic). I'm so tired. The tired part is due to a trip to Walmart with 2 sick kids. Bad idea, but needed to go. It *won't* happen again unless I absolutely have to!