The week from Herpes

**Disclaimer: If you will be offended by my disgruntled attitude towards a local medical facility, please do not read further. I will not respond to b*tchy emails and will delete comments that I feel fall into this category.**

So, as most of you know, I have had a sh*tty week. I feel as thought I have been living under a rock. This is SO reminiscent of the first few newborn weeks, but with less napping.

Last Thurs. night AC developed a low grade fever and a small blister on her lip. I thought nothing of it, she runs a fever when her teeth start pushing through. Friday morning, she had another blister and still had a fever, so I called the Dr to schedule an appointment. The earliest they could get us in was the afternoon. When my MIL came over around 11 a.m., she freaked as AC had SEVERAL bumps on her mouth. It seemed like they were appearing or growing every time I turned my head. Needless to say, MIL's freak-out pushed my tenuous rein on panic right out the window. We headed to BSA Urgent Care. They poked and prodded, took swabs and ran tests, but couldn't come up with an adequate explanation for what they generically referred to as "the virus". Great, my kid has an unidentifiable virus...way to comfort the white knuckled mother. The NP checking AC out went to have a Dr consult. They sent us away with a Rx for antibiotics. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have asked WHY they prescribed antibiotics for a virus. (They didn't find any other infections that they could have been treating. Furthermore, my daughter is allergic to penicillin, leaving choices for antibiotics slim. This means she shouldn't have them unless absolutely necessary because the more you are exposed to a certain antibiotic, the less effective it is.)

So, we went home. MIL offered to stay with her while I ran a few errands that were looming. When I got home, MIL was freaked out again as the spots had multiplied and were all over her tongue! I called Urgent Care and talked to a nurse who suggested the ER. Okay, this is the FIRST ER trip I have had with AC, I was agitated to say the least.

The ER was a breeze, the Dr knew right away what was wrong, AC had Herpes Stomatitis. It's a common virus that manifests in toddlers around 2 years old and will go away on it's own. She was a little incensed (she didn't hide it well) when she found out that Urgent Care had prescribed antibiotics. To my disappointment, AC's age prohibited any Rx or meds for the condition besides Tylenol, Motrin, and Benadryl. With instructions to keep her hydrated, we went home.

The week following was LONG and EXHAUSTING. We spent entire days without leaving the house. In fact, I didn't even know it snowed yesterday until 7 p.m. Fo' real.

She was in so much pain, she wouldn't eat and would cry because she was hungry. This also made for long and frequently interrupted nights. Then, to top it all off, I was preparing us a snack this past Thurs. only to turn around and find AC pointing one of my good kitchen knives at herself. I screamed (who wouldn't??) and she dropped it, slicing two of her fingers in the process. I bandaged them, called both my mom and MIL, and sank onto the couch in a maelstrom of tears and snot. After 3 mos. of being absolutely fine, the damn broke and I sobbed like a baby. The combination of missing my husband, stress, exhaustion, fear, and relief just did me in.

AC is ok, they aren't deep cuts and she is taking every opportunity to remind me she has an "ow" and I must kiss it. She was well enough to actually eat yesterday and spent the night at MIL's last night. (A full night's sleep is highly underrated...) I think we will finally be able to go to playdates and on outings this week if I can handle people looking at the huge scabs on her face and thinking I must abuse her. I think we are on the downhill side of this and it couldn't have come sooner.

See? Scabby...

Until then,

AC's Mom