Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Vomiting, high fevers, and a freaky rash

Vomiting, high fevers, and a freaky rash...that's just the way the Allison's roll. I just keep telling myself it could be worse (working on my glass-stays-half-full-attitude). So, over the past few weeks, Keegan and Logan have been sick with various illnesses. Gavin, strangely enough, has managed to avoid any of it thus-far. Now if you know Gavin, you'll understand how weird this seems since he's always the one doing gross things like putting his hands all over the rim of the toilet or picking a piece of food up off of the floor and putting it in his mouth to "find out what it is".

It started, or should I say...continued about three weeks ago. Logan kept breaking out in what we thought were hives. We finally took him to the doctor just to get him checked out and make sure we were doing everything we could for him. Turns out, he has something called Erythema Multiforme Minor. Google it. It's viral, but isn't contagious...something that is beyond my medical comprehension (this is why I had to change my major from pre-med to psych -- I just don't get biology...or chemistry...). It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. It comes and goes and doesn't seem to bother him, unless he's having a "flare up", in which case it looks like he has hundreds of bug bites all over him. Sometimes they're tiny and red and sometimes they're palm-sized pink welts. The doctor initially said it could last for several weeks when it looked like this...


But at our second appointment, he said it could last for a few MONTHS! Here's a picture of what it looked like on Easter:


In the meantime, Keegan has had some really high fevers -- up to 104.5, which is the highest I've seen in any of my children. He stopped eating entirely and stopped sleeping through the night -- two things that I've spent countless hours working on over the past 10 months. He still doesn't drink anything while I'm at work. No milk, water, juice. He just waits patiently until I get home.

Anyway, it all came to a head yesterday when Logan threw up in Ashley's car on the way home from school. Poor Ashley. She was so good-natured about it too. Much better than I would have been. So, we had a short-lived stomach bug yesterday, but Logan's back to normal today -- fooling around with his brother in his room while I type this and they're supposed to be sleeping. Keegan's also doing much better. He ate some food today and almost slept through the night last night. So, the Allison's appear to be on the mend.

2 comments:

Amber said...

Goodness gracious Katie! I'm so sorry that Logan has such a crazy rash. Poor guy. Jake had this bumpy thing for a bit that the doc said was viral too. I love your latest posts, especially the survey. They are the sweetest boys and you are such a great mommy. :) Miss you! xoxo

Karen said...

Wow - I googled it and it said it's caused by the herpes virus? Poor Logan. Does it itch when it is flaring? And will it totally go away at some point or will he be prone to flare ups? I love reading your blog - you guys certainly have a full life!
Hugs and love
"Auntie" Karen