Hand Foot Mouth

Saturday: Granny's (and Annie's) birthday.  We went out to the Olive Garden for dinner to celebrate Granny's 80th.  It was a nice dinner, especially because it was the first time Marcus and I went out to dinner without the girls in a long time...maybe a year?  It was like a real date ~ with our family.  Samantha and Callie went over to the Black's where Sydney, Kelsey, and Brittney babysat for us.  They have dogs.  Callie loves dogs.  The last 1/2 hour, Samantha was a mess, uncontrollably crying.  They earned their money.

Sunday: I wake up late and we rush to get ready for church.  Samantha sits still through Sacrament. Callie sits on Daddy's lap.  Life is good.  Life is peaceful.  I enjoy the talks given, am sad about my friend moving, enjoy how cute Marcus looks.  That afternoon, I notice a rash on Samantha's hands.  I'm a little concerned, but don't really know if I should be at this point.  By evening, it looks like this:

 left hand

 right hand

I start to worry.  This doesn't look so good.  But then I thought...hey, what if it's an allergic reaction to the dogs?  That would explain the extreme sadness and the rash.  When she falls asleep, we slather on some cortisone cream to see if it helps. Oh, and Callie seems to have a pretty high fever though our thermometer wasn't working.  She's definitely not happy and very warm.

Monday: Callie's not doing much better.  I prescribe a day of tv and sleeping on the couch and as much fluid as she'll take.  Sammy, on the other hand (no pun intended), wakes up to this. 

 

Improvement.  I thought...surely it was an allergic reaction.  After some debate with myself, I send her off to school.  About 30 minutes after she leaves, I get a call from her teacher.  The school nurse wants me to pick her up.  I call Kaiser's advice nurse and she said it sounds pretty classic for hand foot mouth.  From the time she left the house and arrived at school, her little dots had turned into bumps...blister-like bumps.  Poor girl.  

Tuesday: Callie's fever is down.  We ate pancakes and played outside.  We went to the doctor to confirm for the school hand foot mouth (they have to send out an exposure notice now), and the doctor said it looks like it's starting to clear up already.  No new pictures, but things really do look a lot better.  It still may be a few days, but we're on the mend.  He found a few sores in the back of her mouth, but for the most part, she's pretty happy.  Callie decided she wanted pineapple.  When she took a bite, she screamed (Callie's a little more delicate).  She was pointing to her tooth so I was afraid she finally had a cavity -- something I'm constantly obsessing about.  I couldn't find anything.  I didn't see any sores.  I had her stick her tongue out, and sure enough, at the back of her mouth, just before her throat, she has a few bumps.  She did eat the pancakes though and has been drinking water.  Tylenol will have to be her friend for a couple days maybe.  

Wednesday: Each day looks a little better.  Her hands look a lot better and there's just one little bump on her foot that I notice.  Callie hasn't showed any other bumps/spots.  Just the couple in her mouth.  I hope that's the worst of it.
 

So there you have it.  Hand Foot Mouth.  Luckily it's just one of those things that runs its course and it's not really dangerous...just a pain in the hand, foot, and mouth.