Abby Has What???

My poor little munchkin. On Friday, we got a call from daycare that she had a fever of 101. Our first thought - oh no, another ear infection... We gave her some infant's Tylenol when we got home, and she did okay (ate some dinner, slept pretty well that night). But, she woke up earlier than usual on Saturday, was super clingy and cranky, and was drooling like a St. Bernard. So, off to the doctor's office we went. Dr. Cohen checked her ears and chest, both of which were crystal clear. (Thank God!) But, if it wasn't our arch nemesis the ear infection, then what was it??? Dr. Cohen took a culture to test for strep, and that came back negative. Since she didn't have a fever when she woke up on Saturday, he told us to just keep an eye on her and bring her back on Sunday morning if things got worse. Unfortunately, Saturday night was not Abby's best sleeping night, and she awoke again on Sunday morning drooly, cranky, and clingy. As we were sitting in Mass, I noticed some red splotches on Abby's hands. Some of the splotches were all red and others had white centers. We headed to the pediatrician's office directly from church. Abby was still fever-free, thank goodness, but she was drooling worse than ever and was so cranky that we couldn't comfort her.

The diagnosis: coxsackievirus, more commonly known as hand, foot, and mouth disease. Abby has red and white blisters on her hands, feet, and in her mouth and throat. The blisters on her hands and feet don't really bother her, but the blisters in her mouth and throat make it painful for her to chew and swallow. Dr. Cohen said we can treat her symptoms, but we need to let the virus run its course. So, my poor little girl is on a diet of soft, non-salty foods, cold beverages, and water ices and ice cream (to soothe her poor little throat). Thankfully, Abby seems to respond well to an infant pain reliever and, while she does have a slight loss in appetite, she's eating enough and also drinking enough to keep herself hydrated.

This is definitely one of the hardest illnesses that we've dealt with so far. It's not uncommon for a fever to precede the outbreak of the coxsackie rash by 1 - 3 days, but Abby had been drooling badly since Saturday, so she was probably feeling the effects of the rash before the rash actually showed itself. Carey and I are very thankful that Abby's pediatrician was able to see her on both days and was so thorough in his examinations to rule out some of the more serious possible illnesses. We're still able to take Abby outside when the weather is nice, so although she's contagious and can't be near other kids until her blisters have gone away, she can still enjoy taking walks with mommy and daddy and playing in our yard. But, it's hard to know that we can only treat the symptoms and can't do anything to help her feel better any quicker...

Abby is a trooper and is still able to smile and laugh despite the fact that she must be feeling very badly. Of course, daddy gave her vanilla ice cream today, so I'm sure that helped! I hope to have a better report for you later this week. In the meantime, your prayers for the health of our little munchkin would be greatly appreciated!