Strep and Sickness

Well, this past week has brought about the first sickness this fall in our household. Caleb has strep throat, and Ethan is now running a fever and congested. I hope he isn't getting strep also.

It all started with what we thought were bug bites on Caleb last Friday night. Then some more showed up on Monday, then more Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They didn't seem to be bothering him and he acted fine, ate fine, drank fine, so I didn't jump to take him into the doctor right away. But then on Thursday morning, one of the "bumps" on his legs was very swollen and purplish/bluish color around it, like it was infected, so I called and got a doctor appointment. At 2 pm, Caleb started running a slight fever, so I guess it was good I was taking him to the doctor at 3 pm. While at the doctor's they did a throat swab, and found he tested positive for strep. But the bumps/bites/rash aren't characteristic of strep the doctor said. They really didn't know for sure what the bumps were, but said hopefully the antibiotic they were putting him on for the strep would cover any other infection also. I still felt uneasy with this assessment, since the bumps were what came first, then the strep. I feel like there was something else going on, and the strep was something secondary.

On Friday morning, Ethan had a slight fever also along with runny nose and cough, so I just went ahead and called to take him in also to get swabbed, and to have Caleb's rash looked at again by another doctor. Ethan tested negative for strep yesterday, but they said his blood work looked like it was shifted some, as if something might be about to happen. The second doctor that looked at Caleb's bumps also does not know what they are - he guessed perhaps chicken pox, but they don't look exactly like chicken pox (Caleb hasn't had his varicella vaccine yet). He just suggested to keep watching him and see if any new ones appear or if they go away after completing the course of antibiotics.

So, here we are tonight on Saturday, with Ethan having a 102.2 fever around 4 pm, gave motrin and it came down, then around 10 pm just now, it is back at 101.6. So, I just called the on-call doctor to see if they want us to just keep treating him with motrin and tylenol or call in any antibiotic for him. I am waiting for the return call now . . .

Please say a prayer for our boys! It is hard not knowing exactly what is going on with Caleb's bumps, and now with Ethan running this fever. We spent about 3 hours Thursday night cleaning and sanitizing everything in our house, because of course every toy and anything in our house has basically been in Caleb's mouth!

I hope I have no sickness news to report next time!