Hand, Foot, and Mouth

Surprise! Buddy woke up Wednesday morning with a fever. He got hotter throughout the day, forcing me to change my plans from "chicken pen construction engineering" to "holding half-conscious, fevery boy on the Snuggle Chair while reading Catching Fire, book two in the Hunger Games series." I didn't really mind the trade that much ;)

Well, today was different. The fever has subsided and now we're dealing with a rash on his hands and legs that doesn't seem to bother him much yet. It's the sore throat that's really bothering him. He's been drooling a lot, preferring to spit out saliva rather than swallow it. He's refused medicine, popsicles, and plain ice chips declaring them all "stingy." He does take a sip of water now and then, but calls it "coughy water" (we thought he meant "coffee water" for a while) because it irritates his throat and makes him cough. Milk isn't any better. He keeps asking to drink out of other people's cups, thinking their water will be better. Poor guy.

When I told my friends about Robert's fever yesterday, a couple of them mentioned that Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease had been going around the nursery kids this week. It's a pretty common viral infection in kids 10 and under that leads to fever, sore throat, and funky rashes. No medical intervention required beyond your run-of-the-mill pain meds. Robert is irritable, fussy, whining constantly, and nearly impossible to distract. He has quiet periods, but they don't last long. At my wit's end, I used an eye dropper to try and force pain meds into him, but he pretty much gagged and threw them all up immediately.

*sigh*

We'll see how things go tonight. If Robert doesn't take pain meds, I predict several wakings with inconsolable crying and lots of painful writhing :( I take great comfort, however, in the fact that it's a temporary state of discomfort. I know I will get sleep another night soon. I know he will heal completely in 5-8 days.

It's difficult to tell how long Robert will be contagious. I've heard different things from several different professional, reliable sources (CDC, NIH, pediatricians). We'll probably keep him home from church on Sunday. He may or may not have already passed it on to Alice. We'll know more on Saturday or Sunday (3-4 days after Robert began showing symptoms and Alice shared a water bottle with him, repeatedly).

I did finish the book, by the way, and have decided to continue with the third one. I find the writing tedious, since we only get to see/hear/experience what's in Katniss' head (she's not the most brilliant observer, nor analyst) but the story itself is pretty interesting. I would like to know more about the other characters, the government, and the revolution that led to the current setup...information far beyond the scope of Katniss' limited role in this experience :)