And the Craziness Continues...

   I wish I could report that everyone is healthy and life is back to normal, but it is not.  On top of the strep we had last week, Micah and Eli both came down with fevers Monday-Wednesday.  I didn't get much done because all they wanted to do was to have me hold them.  On Tuesday, I began to have a cough.  Nothing I was too worried about.  Morgan also came home from school on Tuesday because she had thrown up at school.  She spent the next two days sleeping on the couch here at home.  Wednesday was horrible.  I felt awful!  It came on very fast.  I was achy, my cough had settled into my chest overnight, my throat was feeling scratchy, I was all stuffed up, but my nose was constantly runny, and I felt exhausted!  Despite all that, I did get the laundry done. :)  John wasn't fairing much better than myself.  We both lost our voices--more of a problem for him than me where he is teaching, but somehow getting after the kids who were feeling much better by this time just doesn't have the same affect when you can't do anything but whisper their name. LOL  By Thursday the kids seemed to be doing much better and John and I were even feeling a little more human.  Until I got a call from John on Thrusday about 2:00pm that Ian had broken out in a huge rash all over his face and arms.  It didn't itch or bother him, so we were thinking where he has been on Amoxicillan that he may be allergic. (John's brother and a neice or sister are allergic to it--which we didn't know about until now.)  We just decided to watch him and get him into the clinic the next day. (All appointments were booked for Thurs.)  The clinic opened at 7am so John took him before school, and Ian's rash was coving him from head to toe.  The PA changed his antibiotic and gave him some allergy medicine.  He didn't want Ian at school "in case it was contagious".  Ian was devistated--he hasn't missed a day of school since pre-school and wants to keep his perfect attendance record in tact if at all possible.  Because John works at the school, and Friday is a half-day (he'd only be there for 2 1/2 hours), after talking with the principal, secretary, and Ian's teacher, we decided to let him go to school, but have him sit in the "In-school suspension" room so he wouldn't be around the other kids.  Ian's attendance record is in tact, and we followed the PA's advice.  Everyone was happy.  The PA called later to tell me that it may not be an allergic reaction, but Fifth's Disease, and to watch the other kids to see if any of them end up with the same rash.  John's sister-in-law checked on Ian several times on Friday, and decided that we should take him to our doctor in Price on Saturday.  By Saturday morning, Morgan and Eli had broken out in a rash as well. Their rashes didn't look anything like Ian's.  By Friday night, his had turned his entire face red so it looked like he was sunburned, and was beginning to do so on his back as well.  His rash looked more like welts than a rash.  It was so funny to listen to the nurse and doctor as they came in to the room to see what the problem was.  Ian would lift up the sleeves of his shirt, and there would be an intake of breath and a "WHOA!"  They weren't quite sure what was the matter either, so they sent us over to the hospital to have some bloodwork done and gave us steriods to help the rash go away.  She said it could be Fifth's disease, it could be an allergic reaction to the amoxicillan, or it may even be that Ian has Mono--a rash occurs like that if you have mono and take antibiotics.  So, we'll know more on Monday when they call with the results.  I took some pictures of Ian so you all could see what his rash looks like.  They pictures don't do it justice.  He looked much worse! :)  His rash seems to be slowly disappearing, so we are glad for that.  Do I dare say that we're hoping for a healthier week, again??  Maybe we'll just leave it at let's hope the coughs go away, and no one comes down with anything new this week.  We've had our fill!