Hand Mouth Foot

This will probably gross out most of whoever reads this, but really, I can't help myself. I'm a nurse. I'm the type who goes to a bookstore and loves to read the medical books with the gory pictures. So I bribed my son to hold still and open his mouth so I could take pictures. Dang, I'm a horrible mother. Really, I can't help myself. It's just so cool!



Last week, my kids got hand foot mouth disease (also called herpangina when it is localized in their mouths). Saturday they spiked fevers and then complained that their mouth hurt. By 24 hours, I could see the little blisters in their mouths and soon Kyle even had them on his feet, hands, knees, and arms. Bekah didn't have it too bad, but poor Kyle. Which means poor mom and dad, too. Thank goodness that I work at a local Kidscare, so I ran to work and made a mix of lidocaine, benadryl, and maalox that I regularly used to swab their mouth to numb the pain. I think Kyle basically cried constantly for 3 days (and nights) straight. And that was with a regime of Motrin, Tylenol, and the mouth wash. What did people do before children's tylenol and motrin?

Of course, we were planning on leaving early Monday morning for a family vacation. I had made reservations for cabins in Yellowstone back in March and we had been preparing all week for the trip. Of course. I'm telling you, plan a family vacation and you automatically triple the chances that a kid will get sick. We once even stopped at the pediatricians ON THE WAY to the airport because of a sick kid. Miraculously (mostly due to the fact that school has started), we were able to change our reservations for the following week and just postpone the vacation one week. Anyway, lest anyone I know blame me for infecting their child, I kept my kids away from others for a week, and then the next we were up at Yellowstone. Yes, it was a difficult week.

On the bright side, because we were in town that week, we got to attend the reception and dinner of one of Rob's really good friends. This family is so amazing... the kind that are so nice and good, that you almost feel wicked around them. But they are so good and kind that you can't help but love them and want to be a better person. So Rob and I are going to really try and be better.

Another big plus: Kyle is done with his pacifier. Because of the blisters, he threw it across the room and called it a "bad pacie". That was easy... in a very hard way.