The Flowers Never Bloomed

This is going to be a long post. The title will make sense, just stay with me.

Early Saturday morning, I noticed a rash on Megan's stomach. By 9:30 a.m., it was getting worse and Megan was very irritable. The first thing I thought was that she had strep throat. So, I called the doctor and she was seen at lunchtime. Since it was a weekend visit, her regular doctor wasn't on call. The doc checked her out and said that he thought she had chicken pox. Really, chicken pox? Isn't that why we immunize children so that they DON'T get this? Anyway, he told us that she was in the early stages of it, and that we wouldn't know for sure until the next day when the rash started to form fluid pockets in the individual bumps.

This was taken Saturday afternoon. Her whole body is covered.



So, we watched her all day Sunday. Her flowers never bloomed. In fact, her rash spread and her fever increased. The rash also changed shape - the bumps changed to a more welt-like rash. We went back to the doctor (our regular doctor) today, and he said it definitely was not chicken pox. It isn't strep either (she's been tested twice). To make a really long story short, he doesn't know exactly what it is. He thinks its a viral infection, but she has to go back Wednesday morning so he can look at it again. He is a little worried that it might be something else, but won't know until Wednesday.

Here is a picture of the rash on Monday. Most of the small red bumps are gone - it's more of a welt-like rash. Again, covering her entire body. It's even in her ears and nose.


At this point, there's nothing we can do for her other than try to make her comfortable. She's on round-the-clock doses of Benadryl, Zyrtec, and Motrin/tylenol. And she has an oatmeal bath at least twice a day.

If it's the viral infection, it's contagious. Which means that Madison and Julianne may catch it. I'm praying that they don't. Megan is miserable and I don't think I can take care of three kids that have this stuff. :-(

Here is Megan after her doctor's appointment. Her throat and tonsils are swollen as well, so I thought she might like a yogurt from TCBY. She didn't. She wouldn't even take a second bite. Poor thing.