Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

After being down and out (or actually, stuck IN) for a couple weeks with bad colds, we finally ventured out last week. It was refreshing. And then...

We came home from my in-laws late Thursday night (after saying by to Tiff and Chandler) and I discovered a rash on Bryson's feet. He had been wearing shoes without socks, so I just figured it was a heat rash. However, the next day he got a few spots on his legs and hands and by Friday evening his little hands had quite a few spots. My parents were with us (for Hannah's dance show) and my mom thought it looked like chicken pox! The spots were raised and red and many were starting to look blistery. Yikes. Bry has received one of two immunizations for chicken pox (and Hannah has had both).

Even though I know the doctor can't really do anything for chicken pox I wanted a diagnosis, just so I would know.  (I wanted to know what we were looking at, how long we'd need to be isolated, and what to tell the parents of the kids we had been around the last few days!) Luckily our pediatricians office is open for some urgent care on Saturday mornings. The doc said there was still a slight possibility it was chicken pox, but more than likely it was Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). (He did check Bry's mouth and found a few sores in there too.) Also Bryson doesn't have any spots on his trunk (back and belly or face). HFMD is not as contagious as chicken pox... but there isn't a vaccine for it either. It can last 7-10 days (but usually starts before you realize it) and is mostly seen in children (10 and younger).

Fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, and pain come with it. Bry hasn't been sleeping well at all... until last night, so I hope we are on the recovery end! Now we have to spend the next few days in, once again! Blah! We'll watch it and hopefully we can be out by the end of the week. I'm keeping Hannah in too, just in case she is a carrier. Poor girl wants to play with friends and was so sad not to go to Primary yesterday! Luckily it is nice enough I can send them out to our back yard.

Here's to a few more days of isolation and lots of Lysol!