2.26.2010

It's the song that never ends

Or the germ that keeps on giving. We are under siege and have been for more than a week. Since the last post was getting long I thought I would explain the mention of spots in a new post. YES, SPOTS! All over my baby. Warning, it gets wordy. BUT SPOTS! I'm sure you are intrigued ...

Let's back up a bit. Chris was the first one down. Started feeling bad but still able to work. Until 2-17, he came home early and called in sick the next day. The rest did him good until Sunday when he had to go to the doctor. Diagnosis: Walking pneumonia. Antibiotics and no work for a few days.

Joseph though went to the doctor 2-18 for his well visit. The exam found a mild ear infection that was so mild Joseph hadn't let it slow him down. He did have a running nose. As had Will for a few days. Snot is just snot until other symptoms start showing up. So antibiotics for Joseph.

Will slowly started coughing as bad as daddy. Back to the doctor Monday. Diagnosis: Could be sinus infection or walking pneumonia. Either case, here's some antibiotics. (Doctor said I could send Will to school Tuesday but he woke up puny so I keep him home. WRONG DECISION. He was puny for about 5 seconds after I called to tell them he wasn't coming then spent the rest of the day bouncing off the walls.)

And then Wednesday came with SPOTS! EVERYWHERE RED SPOTS! ON MY BABY! First they were rather small and we thought we had two possibilities, chicken pox or allergic reaction. Call to the doctor said watch the spots, go to the hospital if breathing problems develop. Otherwise, watch and see. And here's the complication. WILL HAD SPOTS TOO! DIFFERENT SPOTS! What the? Another allergic reaction at the same time? Since he had the chicken pox vaccine, was this the vaccine fighting off the pox? What, I'm not a doctor, I don't know. As these spots (actually hives) came and then went, it was another wait and see. Both boys got a dose of Benedryl and PASSED OUT. That is some powerful stuff that could so easily be abused ... not that I would do something like that, not me.

Back to the doctor Thursday because the spots not only multiplied but grew. A whole range of sizes. So that ruled out chicken pox and pointed to a penicillin allergy. So relief that we don't have a super contagious disease muted by the fact Joseph is going to have to be rather careful for the rest of his life. And after I called this morning to report that some of the spots looked different, it was implied that this could mean Joseph was SUPER allergic so be very careful. I threw the rest of the medicine out. Apparently, this is the most common drug allergy but one we haven't seen in our family and friends so very new to us. Spots should be gone by Monday or we'll be back at the doctor.

And since the ear infection did not get enough of the penicillin, he's on a new antibiotic. (Lost count? That's three of the four of us but the story is not over yet. A thrilling conclusion to come).

Will went along to the doctor Thursday. His hives were deemed a reaction to the dye in the cherry-flavored antibiotic and not the antibiotic itself. Whew! And since the hives were mild, we're finishing out the dose.

I went to the doctor Friday. Because mom is always the last person standing. My cough was getting worse, so one 2-hour wait later and I've got my diagnosis of walking pneumonia. I tell the doctor I'm breastfeeding because that will rule out certain medications I can have. But this doctor tells me not to breastfeed on antibiotics. Umm, we got a problem. Because Joseph refuses formula and bottles. And the doctor is not backing down.

This hasn't been a problem before. Now, some gals are super strict about what they put in their bodies while pregnant/breastfeeding. Some could care less. Crack babies don't smoke it themselves. I fall in the middle and trust my doctors to take care of me and my babies. So I told the doc-in-the-box to write his prescription, I'll call my OBGYN and may or may not fill it. And guess what the little turd did?! Wrote me two prescriptions that I couldn't take. Cue drama!

I've been going to this place for years but I see I've been lax in finding my own regular doctor. Mom needs to take care of mom.

So I call my OBGYN, they call in a new antibiotic for me. Heart them. But wait, after agreeing with the nurse a Z pack would be great, I get home from the pharmacy with amoxcillian. Which yes, I can take and breastfeed BUT not to Joseph, my poor baby covered in spots who is allergic to it. GOOD GOD WILL THIS NEVER END? The week I mean, this post is almost over. Promise.

My OB-GYN is not open tomorrow so I'll call the doctor on-call. If that doesn't work I'll call the doc-in-the-box, get a different doctor, wrangle a new script and be done with all this. Luckily the amoxcillian was on the Publix pharmacy free list (I heart Publix) so I have a bottle ready to go next illness after my breastfeeding days are over. Stuff's not going to go bad.

So we've had a bad week. Now that I've had my "rest" in front of the computer, I'm going to go rest in bed with old episodes of Psych and Private Practice. Maybe the Olympics too. If you have read this all the way to the end, I award you a gold medal!

Update 2/28: Joseph's rash continued to worsen Saturday. At some point I'll add pictures. Even the white of his right eye was red! So I made my second call of the day to the on-call nurse and she thought pink eye! Well, I didn't so I said we wait to see a doctor Sunday (yes, they have Sunday hours!) So tired of talking to people on the phone and hearing do this, no that. The stress was getting to us. Sunday morning dawns and the rash FINALLY looks to be clearing up. Even his eye was back to being white. So, we'll see our doctor Monday morning and hopefully, please, hopefully we are on the path to recovery!

Update 3/1: Went to see our doctor this morning. He seemed concerned that Joseph's reaction to penicillin was so severe. I'm not going through this again so forms that ask what he is allergic to will have big letters NO PENICILLIN!!!! We are on the mend though spots could continue to pop up off and on for weeks. I've learned this is one of the more common drug allergies and now we have a growing list of friends that have shared their experiences. We're thankful for the support. As for the ears that started all this, still infected. Back to the doctor in two weeks.

6 comments:

  1. Lisa (Traylor) WilsonFebruary 26, 2010 at 11:29 PM

    If you have trouble finding something to take, Dr. Becky Saenz at the Mississippi Breastfeeding Medicine Clinic in Madison may be able to suggest some options to present to your own doctor. She's a friend of mine and a really, really caring doctor. Google her clinic for the number. :-)

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  2. What a week. Glad that one is behind you. I hope you get to feeling better soon!

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  3. Good grief, what a dreadful saga! :-( I hope you all are seeing the end of it and will all be on the mend soon. Given all the antibiotics you've all had to take, it might be a good time to stock up on some acidophilus so you can hopefully skip the thrush/yeast infection chaser.

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  4. I well remember those kinds of episodes. A friend of ours came to call our house the "House of Plague." It's no fun, and it's so hard on you. Having kids always throws those wild twists. You'll make it through the Age of Spots, but try to get rest when you can, which I know is not much. It always happened that everyone would get sick in Memphis when my mom and mother-in-law were out of town, so no support system. It will get better. Believe me.

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  5. Tell Joseph he's not alone. One day in college, I woke up with giant welts all over my body. Completely horrified, I found out I was allergic to the penicillin prescription for an ear infection. So sorry for your stress. At least you got a good blog post out of it! ;-)

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  6. poor you guys!!! :( I am glad things are looking up, and hope you get some meds you can take tomorrow.

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