Hand Foot Mouth = Misery

Well folks, it has been a rough one around the Hood household lately! Let me back up to Monday, August 26th. That was the first day that all the kids started back to school. It is a hectic time for both Shane and I at work as well as at home since we were all trying to get back into the swing of things. When I picked up the boys from daycare that Monday, I received a note that there had been a case of hand foot mouth in Casen's room. My immediate thought was that I knew we would be getting it because his little classmate who had it was one of Casen's favorite friends, and since he loves to stick his fingers in his mouth, his chances of getting it were high. I prayed for a week he would not get it.

That Thursday, Camden started having a lovely croupy cough. When Shane went to put Camden to bed, he commented at how hot Camden felt and sure enough he had a fever. I medicated him and the next morning he seemed better, however when I picked him up at school he met me in tears telling me he did not feel good. By the time we got home, his temp was 102.6. Great!!! Here we go, the sickness begins since starting back to daycare. But, on the bright side, we had a three day weekend to recuperate so that was a good thing. By Saturday, he was 100% better, aside from the nagging cough.

So Saturday was a good day, everyone was ready to watch some Alabama football, and with all the great cheering from my boys, the Tide won.

Sunday, we went to church and that afternoon Shane's parents came over to spend the night and spend some time with the boys. By the evening, Casen had a fever and was rather fussy. Well, don't you know this was about the incubation period for hand foot mouth. By Monday, his fever was as high as 103.9 and despite using Motrin and Tylenol, I could not get his fever below 100. Poor Casen was so miserable and fussy. All I could do was just sit on the floor and cry with him. I felt absolutely helpless! It was obvious his throat was hurting him and he did not want to swallow so he was steadily drooling. By this time I assumed it was hand foot mouth, however he did not have any blisters yet. Tuesday, I called into work and that morning went ahead and made him an appointment for 11:30am because I felt like his fever was higher than what it should be for hand foot mouth, however by 10:30am the blisters started showing up. I went ahead and cancelled the appointment, knowing there is nothing that can be done. I knew this meant Casen was going to be out of school for the rest of the week, and I knew there was no way I could already use up my sick time, with it only being the second week of school, so Shane called his mom and she was able to come over and keep Casen all week! Whew!!!!!

He never falls asleep on my lap unless he is feeling bad.

Casen basically ended up with blisters in his mouth, one on his chin, a few on his fingers and a few very small ones scattered on his legs. The blisters in his mouth were the main problem and even though I did not force him to let me look in his mouth, I could see them on his tongue and it was obvious that it was difficult and painful for him to swallow. It was so hard to watch him being so miserable. Luckily by yesterday he was improving and honestly, probably could have returned to school today, however I wanted to make sure he was not at all contagious because gosh knows I don't want any other child or mother to have to go through this!!

A big thank you to Nana for coming and watching Casen for us, as well as entertaining Camden after he got home from school. I can assure you we would have been in a huge bind had she not been able to come and watch Casen!

Nana playing soccer with Camden

Casen finally feeling better