So remember this???
Yeah. The totally gross, disgusting rash of unknown origin that took over my toddler is still there. It’s getting better (??), still doesn’t bother him at all, and has been diagnosed.
My kiddo has hand, foot and mouth…
This is not to be confused with hoof and mouth (which of course was the first thing I thought of when we got the diagnosis), seeing as how my child does not have cloven hooves, at least on his good days. It also shouldn’t be confused with foot in mouth, a condition that I suffer from sporadically.
So yeah, we gots the crud.
If you don’t know about Hand Foot and Mouth, and trust me, before now I knew next to nothing about it… it’s a virus. It’s generally either Coxsackievirus A16 or sometimes Enterovirus 71, but either way, it usually affects children under the age of 5 or people with compromised immune systems. It will usually start with a fever (check), poor appetite (ha NEVER), a sore throat (nope) and general malaise. One or two days after the fever starts, blisters may appear in or around the mouth (not with us) that start as small red dots and may become ulcers over the course of time. After that, the full body rash (um, see exhibit a… got THAT one covered) kicks in, usually on the hands and feet, but sometimes on the buttocks, knees, elbows and genital area. People, we even gots that shit between the TOES. So sad.
The best part of all of this? It’s HIGHLY contagious. Lucky for us and for the children in our town, the kidlet didn’t get it until after school on Friday, so hopefully hasn’t contaminated the free world. It does appear to be going around though, if the number of children quarantined to wait in the car for the doctor was any indication. Good times, good times. There are disputes as to when you stop being contagious, but our doctor said once the rash goes away. (The CDC said WEEKS. I’ll go with my doctor thankyouverymuch)
Needless to say, this will make for a very exciting and house bound kind of week.
Isn’t being a parent AWESOME???
*****
If you want to learn more about Hand, Foot and Mouth, check out the CDC’s website dedicated to it, or the handy dandy Web MD.
