Ardan's "disease"

(I say "disease" because that is how it was referred to in the medical book we have, and Gunnar has been delighting in telling Ardan he "has a DISEASE!", and of course then Ardan wants to strangle his brother.)

It all started last Sunday night. Ardan complained of a sore throat, "Mom, I think I have strep throat!", which immediately freaked me out because we have such a history with that. But he wasn't coughing or sneezing, which is the usual sign. I said we'd just have to keep an eye on it. Monday night, his poor hands erupted in SPOTS! Tiny little red pin-pricks all over the palms. They were itchy as hell. We concluded that it must be an allergic reaction of some sort, what had he been in contact with that day? Well, he'd helped Gunnar clean the garage by sweeping the floor with our old garage-broom, and he'd moved a few boxes. Could some type of chemical been on the broom or boxes and he'd touched it? No, no chemicals, so what could it be? Gave the kid some benadryl, hoping that would do the trick.

No. In fact, the red spots spread, to only his feet, though. Itchy, red, swollen heels and soles with those damn red spots! Only now, it wasn't just his throat being sore, he said his tongue felt swollen! So I was just freaking out, convinced it was still some sort of allergic reaction. Out came the benadryl again, but as before, it didn't do a thing.

So by Wednesday night, it was a serious toss-up... take him in to the ER (possibly spending hours there just to be told to give more benadryl and wait it out) or wait til morning and try the walk-in clinic. I've had quite the experiences with the ER lately so that was ruled out. As long as Ardan wasn't having trouble breathing -- which he wasn't, just swallowing -- we'd go in the morning.

In an insane stroke of luck, the Associate walk-in clinic at the mall was practically empty and we were seen in less than ten minutes. The doctor came in, examined Ardan's hands and feet, hmmm-ing and nodding, then asked if there were any sores inside his mouth. "No, I don't think there's any sores, but he IS having problems swallowing." She looked in his mouth with a flashlight and said, "Yes, there is, his mouth is riddled with sores!" What? I felt like the worst mom ever.

She nodded her head in some type of silent agreement with herself and said, "Oh yeah, its obvious. He has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease."

You could have heard a pin drop in that room. We all stared at her, mouths agape. "I have a DISEASE?!?" Ardan cried.

"Oh no, honey, its okay. Its just a virus, don't worry. This will pass in a few days, the spots and sores will go away. It is slightly contagious, but its one of the more milder viruses. Just keep washing your hands so your siblings don't get it." That was a relief to hear. Didn't require any medication or treatment, beyond tylenol for the mouth-pain and lots of fluids.

So we returned home and I immediately consulted my children's medical book, and sure enough, there it was. 'Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease' -- I'd never even heard of it before! The incubation period is 1-2 days, it usually starts with a sore throat and low fever (Ardan didn't have the fever), then the spots and sores come. In infants, its quite a serious illness but older children should be fine, providing they are being kept well-hydrated. (The sore throat tends to make children hesitant to drink liquids.)

But what really horrified both the kids and myself was the description of HOW the virus is transmitted: through mouth-to-mouth contact ("Ardan, did you kiss someone?", "NO!! GROSS!" haha) or by hand-to-mouth transfer of fecal matter or feces. Hence the hand-washing instruction. Gunnar and I looked at each other in complete horror, but the other kids were clueless, "What's feces?" Um, how do you tell your kid that they probably ingested poop particles? Poor Ardan. The look on his face as he listened to the explanation.

"I did NOT eat poop!" (Typical Gunnar, "You mean FECES. You ate FECES.")

So now poor Ardan is fanatical about hand-washing, and who can blame him? He must have somehow picked up the virus (from a convenience store he visited with his dad and brother on a fishing trip that Sunday, we're thinking), got it on his hands, then touched his mouth with his virus-and-feces-infected hand. He'll probably need therapy for this.