Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Coxsackie Virus

While it is hard for me to say "coxsackie" without giggling, this is no laughing matter! It turns out that our poor little boy has this disease, more commonly referred to as Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. :( I feel so horrible! We thought he might be getting some molars in lately-- he's been drooling like crazy, constantly putting his fingers in his mouth, and running a low fever. Sounds like teething, right? He was cranky and nap-resistant, too, but it all seemed to fit with the teething theory. Until last night. Nikos was up for hours last night, crying relentlessly whenever either one of us tried to leave the room. Gus actually spent a few hours asleep on the floor in there, because that was the only way he could get him to sleep! Very unusual behavior for our little guy, who is an expert sleeper these days. And then today, he only took about a 30 minute nap before be began crying inconsolably-- which is what led me to call the doctor and take him in right away. He was miserable!

Anyway... Her first thought was that maybe he had an ear infection, since he had a cold about a week ago. Nope-- both ears looked great. His temperature was even back to normal. But she took one look in his mouth, and knew exactly what it was. It turns out that the back of his mouth and throat are covered with the telltale coxsackie sores. He also has a few pimple-like bumps in various places around his body, but they are really minimal. The throat is the bad part-- it's making it painful for him to eat! Unfortunately, the virus just has to run its course. We can give him ibuprofen for the pain and fever, and offer him soft foods and lots of liquids, but otherwise we just have to wait. It should last about a week from when it started-- so I'm guessing he'll be a lot happier by the end of the weekend. But until then... I just hope the ibuprofen keeps him from being cranky!

Also, it turns out that the virus is really contagious. He probably got it from someone at daycare, but that's irrelevant at this point. What matters is that he needs to stay away from his baby sister. No kisses for the next week or so, which makes me sad! :( Luckily, the doctor thinks she'll be fine, especially since she is breastfeeding and getting a little boost to her immune system. Hooray for that, right? The other good news is that this is one of those diseases that kids generally get only once in a lifetime. So at least we're getting it out of the way before he starts school!

On a completely different topic, I just had to share what the doctor said to me at the appointment. She is not the regular doctor that Nikos and Maya go to-- she was the only one able to see Nikos on such short notice. So I've never met her before. Well, she asked me to sit on the table and hold Nikos on my lap (so she could look in his ears without him squirming). Her exact words: "I think it might be best if he sat in your lap-- or what's left of it, anyway!" NOT AGAIN!!! I told her that my lap was actually starting to return, since I just had a baby eleven days ago. She was really nice, and it didn't bother me the way it did the other day, but I'm thinking I might need to stop wearing this yellow shirt I bought. I only seem to get the pregnant comments when I'm wearing it. hmmm...

No comments: