Just Like it Sounds...
So one of the more recent, not so fun dealings was with an outbreak of the"Hand, Foot and Mouth" virus. This is apparently extremely common in young children, daycares and warmer environments. We have no idea where he picked this up and it doesn't really matter, good thing is it is over and done with and we are moving on to better health.
The day that Chris was returning from GA, Wesley broke out in a terrible rash. It was the afternoon of our jog on the boardwalk so at first I thought it might be a heat rash. By 5pm I was calling my sister in a panic, calling friends and ultimately heading to Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters-ER because I didn't know what had attacked Wesley. Turns out this was the onset of the nasty virus and the beginning of a very rough week.
Blisters covered his hands, feet/ankles and a few other areas of his body. He had a decent fever for a couple of days as well. The biggest concern of the illness is the sores/blisters get into the mouth and children stop eating and drinking because it is too painful which results in dehydration. Luckily, the sores in Wesley's mouth were very limited and he was able to eat without much trouble. The sores on his hands were the worst...these photos don't do it justice. I stopped counting blisters on one hand at 30...poor thing was pathetic looking. He had a fever and a very hard time sleeping which anyone would expect but we are on the mend with just a lot of scabs and red skin to show for it.
The virus hit us on Saturday, fever broke Monday night so we were ready to take him back to Mrs. Sheila's by Thursday (could've gone sooner but I felt too bad to leave him, he still looked pretty pathetic!). On Thursday morning while we were getting ready I noticed that one of Wesley's eyes was very pink! First thought was "pink eye". Another child at daycare had it the week prior so not too far fetched of an idea. I ended up taking him to the doctor and relieved to find out that it was NOT pink eye, but instead he had scratched his eye. The process we had to go through to determine that was awful...they put a dye in his eye and then looked at it with a black light. Sounds easy...try that with a squirmy 5 month old. It took 3 adults to hold him down and a whole lot of screaming. Was not a fun experience but I was glad he didn't have pink eye. I could have taken him to daycare and headed into work but at that point, it was mid afternoon and I needed zero excuses to stay home and spend the rest of the day with him! While we were at his doctor's visit, our pediatrician told us she had seen about 6 cases per day of the Hand, Foot and Mouth since we had been in for our follow up on Monday. Guess we were one of many in Virginia Beach who weren't so lucky. A couple of other kids at daycare were also affected and one of the moms! It's one of those bugs that just runs rampant once it makes a presence. Wesley is still shedding skin and scabs-I know it sounds really gross. Worst part is he may lose a finger/toenail or two. I hope not but don't think there is much we can do to prevent it! Hopefully, this is the last we will see of it! Wesley was a trooper for sure and has handled the whole virus very well!
