Saturday, May 12, 2007

The next installment of Rash of the Week

You know, sometimes you just can't win, for losing.

William has ANOTHER rash. It started popping up late Thursday, and it was very noticeable by Friday morning. It was even worse this morning. At first we assumed it was a reaction to his vaccinations from last week, since he's also had some fevers over the last coupleof days. Then the rash got worse, so David pulled out the AAP's Red Book and pored over some entries on rashes.

The tentative diagnosis right now is roseola. Apparently, roseola is a very common rash that shows up in young children. By the time a child is about four, he's almost certain to have had it--or be "seropositive" in the jargon of the AAP. So the good news is...David and I don't have to worry about catching it. But the Red Book says that it's characterized by high fevers--William has broken the 102 degree mark two days in a row--which usually lasts three to seven days. The "erythematous maculopapular rash" lasts hours to days. Of course it's lasting days here. Of course it is! William's a pediatrician's kid. It's always going to last as long as possible.

Ack. We cancelled our trip to the Grand Canyon this weekend, but I hope that he will improve enough to justify letting us all leave the house and at least go to Palm Springs next week. In the meantime, we're giving him regular doses of Tylenol and/or Motrin. He's been eating and sleeping pretty well, so that's a relief.

So that's the Rash of the Week here. Poor little guy looks like he's got the measles or something. I'll take a picture and post it later.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about William's roseola rash. Hope he's soon feeling better! Maybe he'll be immune to almost everything by the time he starts kindergarten. Give him a big hug and kiss from me.
With Love.
Mama Dee