I hate Scarlet.....

Well we managed to make it almost seven years without a trip to Urgent Care or the Emergency Department. That streak broken on Saturday morning when my big guy came downstairs upon waking, looking like the Michelin Man with a sunburn. He was burning up with a temperature of 105.2, covered in rash from head to toe and swollen beyond recognition. After a long morning spent at Urgent Care we went home with the diagnosis of Scarlet Fever. 

I honestly was unaware of the presence of Scarlet Fever that still existed, but boy have I been schooled in it in the past 48 hours. 

Those first 48 hours were really tough for him. Fighting incredibly high fever, chills, nausea, headaches, itching, you name it he struggled with it. There is an element of heartache seeing your children so very ill and feeling helpless. He could barely lift his head to drink anything the first 24 hours. That first night I slept with him, worried about the high temperatures and risk for seizures as well as the swelling in his throat. He could not get comfortable. He would cry telling me his whole body hurt and felt like he was on fire. With temperatures reaching so high I can imagine how awful he felt. All I could do was hug him and make sure I got his medication to him exactly when he could have the next dose. Yesterday he showed some signs of improvement, however we still struggled with high fevers. And last night, though not as tough, still managed to keep us awake for part of it with a lot of discomfort and fever. 

We went to his follow up appointment in Pediatrics Acute Care Clinic this morning. He looks a little better, although still puffy and swollen. The doctor was pleasantly surprised to see that he could answer questions with words instead of groans. He still looks like he has a painful sunburn, but the inflammation look has subsided. I think we made it over the hump thank God. The doctor said his fevers are trending down and now responding to medications; so she believes we got through the worst of it. I hope and pray we never have to go through something like this again. And I’ll be continuing to keep an extra close eye on the other two in the coming days. I do not hate much in this life, but I sure feel strongly about hating Scarlet……fever 😊