Scarlet Fever

Dear Connor,

Croup. Ringworm. Impetigo. These are all diseases that I had never heard of until I became a mom and you, unfortunately, contracted them. And now we can add scarlet fever to the list. Well, I had heard of scarlet fever before, years ago, when I read Little Women and Beth catches it from the Hummel baby. That book was published in the 1800s and I'd never heard of anyone catching scarlet fever these days, though, so I didn't even think it existed anymore. Until you came down with scarlet fever not once but twice this month. Yep.

You first had it two weeks ago and it scared the crap out of me. First, you had a fever. The next day, you woke up with tiny bumps under your nose and by the evening, a rash had broken out on your neck and spread to your face, torso and back. Daddy took you to the urgent care pediatrician, who said it was a viral rash that would go away on its own. Oh, but she was wrong. The next morning, you woke up at 6am and when I turned on the lights, I was horrified by what I saw: Your face was completely swollen, as if you'd been stung by 20 bees. The swelling was so severe, you couldn't open your eyes very wide and you didn't even look like you anymore. I was so scared (and choked back tears so as not to scare you, too) but did take comfort that you seemed fine aside from the swelling. You ate a full breakfast and played energetically with me while we waited for Daddy to get ready and take you to the hospital emergency room. 

Once you were in the ER, they gave you a strep test and it came back positive; scarlet fever is a bacterial infection caused by strep and symptoms are a fever (check), a red rash (check) and swelling (double check). Thankfully, medicine has come a long way since Louisa May Alcott's days and scarlet fever is no longer as life-threatening as it once was. We just had to give you antibiotics for 10 days and then you'd be fine.

And you were fine. The swelling disappeared in a couple days and you were all better just in time to celebrate Christmas scarlet fever-free. But when you woke up this morning, you had a few new small bumps under your nose. I didn't initially make the connection that it was scarlet fever again since you'd just recovered from it and you didn't have a fever, so the two of us went to the Hall of Science. We saw the massive gingerbread houses display, explored the different exhibits and had some really nice Connor-Mommy time. Aside from the bumps, you seemed normal. But later that evening, a rash broke out all over your face, you complained of having chills and you were suddenly very weary. Daddy took you back to the urgent care pediatrician and she told us that you had scarlet fever again. She prescribed stronger antibiotics and said you were possibly a carrier for scarlet fever, thus explaining why you had caught it again so soon. Being a carrier isn't a serious issue; it just means that you're more susceptible to contracting scarlet fever than non-carriers and, unfortunately, there's not much we can do to prevent you from catching it, other than making sure you always wash your hands, don't share food with someone who's sick, etc. *sigh* The things you learn about after becoming a mom.

Love,
Mom