Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Darn Dots

Sunday morning Owen developed peculiar looking spots on his left hand. By Monday, they were on his head and neck- and Kylee said her ankles were itchy. Her ankles looked like she might have bug bites on them, and even though they looked different than Owen's, we skipped school, headed to the Dr and got a "yikes!" that looks like chicken pox. But he's had the vaccine, had no other symptoms- and was only getting them in exposed areas- not at all on his trunk. Our Dr had a partner in the office look at the kids, and he had no idea, either. Kylee sat patiently and waited through the double examination- and finally blurted out- when do I get to go to school?! Our practioner said she didn't think Ky was contagious, and it would be fine to wear long sleeves and pants send her in, unless she started to look like Owen and got worse. So, I decided to keep her home Monday, and if she looked ok Tuesday, we'd go in. I couldn't keep her out this week- this is the week we've all been so excited for...

The plan WAS- I was supposed to be in her class doing a project and photographing the kids all week, I was driving them on a field trip, helping them bake cookies- I was looking forward to all these things, too. Wes was going to be home drafting house plans, so once Owen got dots- we decided he should not tag along with Ky's class, and just "help" daddy draft while I helped out at preschool. Wes was called for jury duty on Tuesday- but who EVER really gets summoned to be on the jury, right? Wrong. He's on the jury. This morning I drove to preschool, and had both kids as usual, but was nervous about Owen being in the classroom. I planned to talk to the teacher, sign her in quick, and hang on to Owen so no one had contact with him. The second her teacher saw Owen's dots, she said it looked too much like Chicken Pox, and we should keep them both home til they are gone. Major meltdown of 2007 occurs at this point. Owen's pissed cause I've been holding him the whole time we're talking, and he usually gets to play with all the kids. He screams and punches mommy in the face. Teachers are shocked cause they've never seen "the dark side of Owen." Kylee is standing there with HUGE tears because we were supposed to sing to the grandmas and grandpas at the hospital today- and she's worked SO hard to learn all the carols. Mommy realizes that she shouldn't have stayed up till 2 watching reruns of "The Hills" and probably needed a little more sleep to get her through this one. So- I discliplined Owen, hugged Kylee, and through my own tears told her how we needed to protect all her friends from the dots, so we had to go home til their gone. She agreed to go with me, but was sobbing miserably the long walk to the car. Other parents were arriving with their kids, and were wondering why she was going the wrong way- I held it together enough to say "no school for Kylee today-" and then completely cried in the car. I felt so bad that poor Kylee is missing some awesome days at school for what could be flea bites. On her brother. But, we decided to make the most of our getting kicked out of preschool, and hit up the drive thru coffee shop.

As of tonite, Wes has dots, too- on his hands and head the most. He says his feel like poison oak. I have like two tiny dots on my belly, but I can't tell if I'm really itchy, or if I want to be like everyone else in my house. Somebody please tell me what's wrong with us so we can join society again. Thanks.

10 comments:

Amy said...

I have a hard time beieving it is Pox, Taylor and I have been around all of you and we have no little bumps. I was sad to hear you problems with the school, but I understand were they are coming from. Tell Ky she can perform for us, we would love to hear all her hard work.

Anne Marie said...

I totally agrre with you, Amy- I really don't want my kids to be spreading stuff to the preschool right before the holidays. And I still LOVE Kylee's school, I totally wouldn't even call it a problem with them. Her teacher was obviously sad we couldn't stay, she even teared up right alongside us... I think the darn dots are frustrating everyone. I'll tell Kylee to get her song sheet back out, and you and Taylor will have an awesome performance Christmas morning.

Jessica said...

I thought my two had the pox but it turned out to be skeeter bites or something along those lines.
Poor Kylee! I'm sure the grandmas and grandpas wouldn't mind an encore performance! Maybe you could arrange something for after the mysterious bumps go away.

Andrea said...

Anne Marie,
I had a hard morning and cried at preschool too. Only it was kind of the opposite. I am trying to be really careful with Drew and not let him get sick but today was the class Christmas party and I didn't want him to have to miss it. So I stayed to watch and was uncomfortable because about 3 of the kids were coughing, one had a runny nose, and one's mother said as she dropped her off "today is the first day she's feeling better." Great. So I felt like I should take him and leave, but knew he would be upset and didn't want him to miss the party. So I cried 3-4 times before letting him stay for cupcakes and then bringing him home early. I feel your pain! Don't know what the dots are but I hope they are resolved soon.

Anne Marie said...

Good idea about the encore performance, Jessey- I'll mention it to Kylee- she's pretty she without her classmates alongside her, so I doubt she'd sing to strangers. But maybe we could just go wish them a happy new year when they are all better.

And Andrea, it's so tuogh, isn't it? I know how important it is for Drew, especially, to stay healthy- and I know the moms at school are probably just good people who are hopefully using their best judgement when bringing their kids to school- and just want their kids to have fun for Christmas, too. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place- I think you did the right thing letting Drew stay for a bit, even though it was hard- because isn't it true that the most contagious kids aren't even showing signs of illness yet? We'll keep our fingers crossed for you that he remains healthy, especially through Jan 2!

Jessica said...

I don't know about kids with colds, I think they and their snots are contagious all the time. But I could be wrong.

I DO know that the chicken pox are the MOST contagious before the spots even appear. Sneaky pox!
So there's no way to protect kids from getting the pox because you don't know anyone has it until they aren't contagious anymore.
That's a fun fact from me!

The Mom said...

The vaccine doesn't protect you 100% from the dreaded Pox. It just makes the virus "weaker" so you're not so... spotty and itchy. My friend Shana and her kids got the pox, and the kids had about 20 spots with vaccine while Shana got 200+ spots without the vaccine.

If we lived closer, I'd come over and have your kids rub up against my kids so they can get it and be totally immunized against the pox forever (I'm the mom who wants her kids to have the pox now rather than later).

Good luck AM - there's nothing funner than a house fill of "poxed" people!

- Sonya

PS I've been reading your blog since its birth. I check it daily!

Andrea said...

Any update on the dots?

Anne Marie said...

Well, guys, we are pretty sure it's not chicken pox after all. We are convinced we are getting bit by something in our house. Our dog has been in a lot more with the cold weather, and we had another skin doc check us all on Friday before we left town for the holidays. She says she actually thinks its flea bites, and Owen had an allergic reaction, which caused his crazy breakout on his hand. We aren't sure because we haven't SEEN fleas, but she said that can happen. She gave us a hydrocortizone rx cream to use, and it should clear up the spots within a week. We got the all clear to travel to see family, and feel better knowing we aren't contagious. Bummer Kylee missed school- but better safe than sorry.

Amy said...

I really don't think it is flea's either. Taylor and I have had Bo stay with us and we have loved on him and we don't have anything. All though I did notice Bo scratching more this time than the last time we watched him, but that could be more than just flea's. Breakfast was fun, I look forward to the new tradition, food was great too!