I'd been told by Dr Bester (the bestest pediatrician ever) that she should stay home for one week to give her immune system, specifically her white blood cells, time to regroup and replenish. I took that to mean limiting her contact with other, germ-carrying, people. I didn't think about allergic reactions. Who would though, right? Apparently, when the immune system has been under an extended viral attack, as it recovers it over-reacts to what it considers threats. Something a person wasn't allergic to before, now the super-sensitive immune system picks up on. I'm fairly certain it was the strawberries she ate that night; Tyler went through something similar with kiwis a while back and strawberries are related to kiwi and can have the same effect.
The ER doctor, upon reviewing her history, said that this was most likely a secondary reaction to the viral infection and that even with the epinephrine shot and benadryl given to her that night, the welts would remain for up to three days. I was to continue with the benadryl every 4-6 hours as needed for itch relief. We finally made it back home around 4:30 a.m., tucked our exhausted little ones back into bed, then collapsed in our own bed; up a couple hours later to start the daily grind. (For those of you wondering, we left the two older boys at home sleeping and took Ryder with us. I woke up Gunnar, explained the situation, gave him the phone just in case, and away we went. Tyler stayed in my Suzi with Ryder, trying to sleep, while I was in the ER with Lena.)
This was her back the next day, not near as bad. But that's because as the welts abated in one area, they infilatrated new ones. Day 2 saw her arms and neck, hands and thighs covered.
And here we have Day 3. This is how she looked when she woke up, puffy eyes and red swollen skin all around them, on her cheeks and chin. I...FER-EAKED...OUT!!! Called Dr Bester's office immediately, left a message that it was regarding Milena Kasha, and he returned my call right away. Lena is his little "wonder", his "star", so of course he was concerned. He confirmed what the ER doctor said about secondary reaction, that is was most likely an allergic reaction to something, and that it was a very good sign that there was no sign of fever or breathing problems. However he still wanted her looked at right away, her chest listened to, just to be safe. Three hours in a waiting room later (poor Lena wearing her little face mask the entire time), the doctor reassured me her breathing and heart were fine, throat was fine; gave us a prescription for a steroid-based syrup that would help with the welts.
Today she is doing much better. Her face is all cleared, the medicine is obviously working, and almost all the redness over her body has faded. There are no obvious welts anymore, either. I'm so thankful she is getting better. Tomorrow we have an appointment with Dr Bester, he has some results for us from all her blood work, so I'm looking forward to that. I'd like some closure in all this, to be able to say with 100% certainty that it definitely was Fifth Disease.And of course, Lena has a beautiful hand-made thank you card to give her most favorite doctor. "Because he's 'bester' than all the other ones, get it?"
2 comments:
My poor grandbabygurl .. it was soooooooooo hard to stay away then to top it off, to hear about these welts from hell and still have to stay far far away, for her own safety. Well, Granny Hag is super happy as of last night because my baby diva is back in my life, with two of her brothers. Even though she was a little bossy, I allowed her to be last night when we were in bed ie., "Ryder, quit jumping around, quit flashing the remote light on and off, quit bugging Griffason, Ryder if you don't go to sleep Gramma has to take you home because that's what mom said" and magically, he fell asleep in her arms, Griffason on one side of her, Ryder on the other and that's how I found them this morning and even though I'm sure Griffason had to pee like crazy, it took several whispery calls to get him to leave Lena's side. We've all missed our gurlchild. Thank goodness you are such a great mother, BeauSaxon, and initially stood your ground and firmly demanded answers. You definitely took the phrase "take the best and forget the rest" to heart because I wasn't as good a mom as you are.
I'm ever so proud of you. You saved your child.
Mama Hagar.
Yes you are, and were, Mom. I remember as a teen getting into several tiffs with teachers about whatever and I knew that you would ALWAYS back me 100%, and of course you did, going to bat for me with the principal even one time. You have no idea how that makes a teen feel, to have that unconditional support. Most parents would have been like, "What did you do now?" and immediately assume it was the teen's fault. There was a reason you were called Mama Hagar --- because you strongly defended and protected your children. I think you were/are the best mom ever! I was talking about that, actually, to Christine, how we mothers doubt ourselves and compare ourselves to our own mothers and feel lacking in comparison.
Love you too much Mom!
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