Fifth Disease

Yesterday when Ethan came off the bus, I noticed he had rosy cheeks. I figured it was because he never wears his coat and he had been on the bus for 35-45 minutes. But when it didn't go away during dinner, I asked if he had played outside at school a lot that day because it looked like windburn. "Yes, we had outside P.E. today." he said. So, case closed, or so I thought. Not so.

This morning he woke up with the red spots being red splotchy marks all over his cheeks and then it went from his wrists up to his elbows. It was making ME itch. I went to Wal-Mart and bought benadryl thinking it was a food allergy. Why it hung on so long I didn't know. Well, after I gave him the medicine, the rash didn't fade as quickly as it should if it was an allergic reaction. So, I took him in to the doctor.

Apparently, Ethan has fifth disease. First off, let me say, this is the first time I have ever had to take Ethan in for an intermediate appt. The kid is a horse, but no match for a common childhood virus. The doctor was glad it was so easy to diagnose and since there is no treatment, he didn't have to do anything. No shots or anitbotics. Ethan is all done being contagious (although I had to call all the kid's he's played with over the last few days.) But, the doctor hope he infected other kids because it's something everyone gets and needs the antibodies. (It's really bad if you contract it during the first trimester of a pregnancy, so we're hoping Katie caught it.)

I found this link about Fifth Disease and it was helpful. Ethan didn't have any cold symptoms at ALL, no fever, no coughing, no sore throat and the doctor said a lot of kids don't. Ethan is running around with a light saber right now acting just fine. But, I did remember he complained about a headache Wednesday night, so maybe that was his way of manifesting it. Just so other moms know - my doctor said if your child gets it, there is no treatment, so don't even worry about getting him in to see a doctor. It just has to run its course. I hope this post saves someone $100 and a ton of worry someday!

I should add that I was very relived it was this because I started thinking he was allergic to eggs or green dye or some type of cereal and I think an egg allergy would be really hard to have. So, I'm counting my blessing, although little Katie may be splotchy for Thanksgiving....