Wednesday evening Charlie was very fussy... I figured maybe we were dealing with some teeth since the little one only has 7 - he's due for a few chompers. I was lucky enough to get a few hours out of the house to go see a movie, The Other Woman, hysterical. Exactly what I needed. I'd like to go to another movie right now. I probably only see one movie every two years...
Seth took care of the boys and mentioned that Charlie's belly was covered with several red spots. Charlie has somewhat sensitive skin so I didn't think much of it. When Charlie woke up this morning, I realized his eye was very swollen, he had several red spots on his face, and his trunk was almost entirely red.
Sigh. Now what...
Our doctor's office opens at 7 on Thursdays and we were able to get in by 8. I was expecting to hear that Charlie's bronchiolitis was just exiting his body through the form of a viral rash. I think I would have preferred that.
The doctor explained that these were hives and most likely caused by the amoxicillin Charlie is taking for his ear infections. I never imagined the amoxicillin would be the problem, since Charlie has been on it before. The doctor explained that often if someone will be allergic to something they won't develop the allergy until after the initial exposure. So first round of amoxicillin = exposure. Second round = highly attractive and uncomfortable red hives covering most of Mr. Charlie.
We will be discontinuing the use of amoxicillin and adding a nice little 1/4 tsp. dose of Benadryl for Mr. Charlie. Maybe I can at least get some really good naps out of this Benadryl haze Charlie might be experiencing.
Note: Charlie still doesn't like doctors.
I made a quick stop at the dollar store on my way home to pick up some additional supplies and decided to buy Charlie a little ball he had been eyeing. On the way home, it served as a snack. Good news: None of the ball was actually ingested.
Charlie took an excellent nap (thanks, Benadryl?) but woke up looking so much worse. He could hardly see out of his right eye and several of the hives on his belly and turned from red to purple. I had to go pick up Annie from the groomer so loaded the boys up and called the doctor on the way. Fortunately, Charlie wasn't having any breathing or swallowing issues, so we just needed to continue Benadryl. The doctor instructed that if Charlie was worse in the morning, we could come in for a steroid injection.
Unbelievably, Charlie slept all night. Though I woke up a few times to make sure he was still breathing... He woke up around 6:30 Friday morning still wearing his lovely amoxicillin mask. This boy doesn't look like my child. He's still beautiful, but in a pitiful way. He's acting almost completely normal, maybe just a little mellow (again, thanks, Benadryl...?).
Charlie seems pretty comfortable for the most part. He doesn't seem to acknowledge any of his hives until he gets sleepy and then he starts itching around.
I'm very hopeful that we will have a good day with several doses of Benadryl and hopefully start looking a little more normal by tomorrow. I've read that these hives can start to blister, so I'm praying that sweet Charles doesn't have to experience that.
Charlie went down for a normal nap Friday morning and woke up seeming very irritable. He was not looking good. His body was almost entirely covered in these spots and most were purple with a red ring on the outside. Still, he wasn't having breathing trouble or swallowing trouble, but now seemed uncomfortable. I decided to call our doctor. They got me in immediately, saying that they were told that if I called, to get me in immediately. 20 minutes later we walked right into an exam room.
At the doctor's office, we baffled most nurses. They could not believe these hives were purple and were not looking very reassured. I'm amazed I kept my composure. We saw our doctor and he also seemed concerned. He said "Hives don't turn purple". He put a call into the dermatologist to do some checking. Shortly after, he returned to the room saying he had left a message for the dermatologist but in the mean time, we probably need to head on to Kansas City or Columbia to the hospital. He believed we might be dealing with Stevens Johnson syndrome - which is a severe reaction to antibiotics that apparently means the skin is essentially burning, and can start to slough off. What..... Charlie's skin might start to come off....? He told me we were looking at at least one night, maybe two, in the hospital.
I cried most of the way home as I shared the news with immediate family members. Of course, I had to go home because I forgot my PURSE on the way to the doctor in the first place. I went home, packed a few things for Charlie and myself, Seth took over driving, Papa Jimmie picked up Wyatt, and off we went to Columbia.
We arrived at the hospital around 1 p.m. and finally a little before 2 p.m. were seen by 3 doctors who listened intently to our week long ordeal, beginning with the doctor's appointment last Thursday and ear infection diagnosis. The ordered blood work and several labs and informed us we would be seeing another dermatologist at some point.
The initial exam was NOT pretty. And I didn't think it would be pretty. I held Charlie as tight as I could while they checked his ears and looked for sores in his mouth. Thankfully, there were no sores in his mouth. The dermatologist was starting to rule out Stevens Johnson syndrome - as that apparently is fairly involved in the mouth and other mucous membranes. The dermatologist was then leaning towards Serum Sickness or Erythema Multiforme -the latter being the more serious condition. I actually now believe that Erythema Multiforme and Stevens Johnson may be somewhat related. I won't get too technical - because I'm not a doctor. I only know what I've heard and googled. On we go.
Around 3:45 p.m., another dermatologist came in and begin to really lean towards Serum Sickness. She explained the usually treat Serum Sickness as outpatient. Our mood began to perk. It continued to perk and she was the only doctor that Charlie did not mind having in the room. He let her look at his back and take pictures. I flipped him over so she could see his stomach and she took pictures. While he was laying on my lap, he unhooked his diaper and pulled his little Mr. Charlie out - and then began chitchatting with the doctor. This moment in time was hilarious and I will remember for the rest of my life, how Charlie finally didn't mind having a doctor in the room, but probably because he made himself comfortable and pulled his business out to show her and strike up a conversation... Unbelievable.
Things were looking up. She had mentioned Outpatient. She was going to send one more doctor in to confirm her suspicions about Charlie. In the meantime, she mentioned there would likely be no need for an IV. Thank GOODNESS the nurses hadn't jumped right on this. I was so worried about how Charlie would handle the procedure and then having the IV right there for him to fuss with and try to yank out!
A short 20 minutes later, a male doctor with the most beautiful hair (!! I mean, gorgeous hair, Seth agreed) came in and before the door had even shut behind him, he said, "That is Serum Sickness. No doubt."
Serum sickness is defined as an immune-mediated rash that is triggered by a viral infection and antibiotic use. Now, if you can remember WAY back up to the top of this post, I mentioned I was expecting to hear that Charlie's rash was just the virus escaping his body. I even informed a friend of mine, after his rash seemed much worse than I imagined from an antibiotic allergy, that what if this was a double whammy of a viral rash AND antibiotic allergy. Maybe I need to go back to school... because I. am. a genius. Totally kidding. Maybe only kind of kidding. Mother's intuition...?
We spoke at length about this and the doctor informed us that Charlie might not even actually have an allergy to amoxicillin. Yes, right now he has a sensitivity, but if there's some life threatening situation that Charlie encounters, we are most likely safe to give him amoxicillin. In fact, later in his life he might not have any trouble with it at all. This was just as he said, a combo of situations that overwhelmed Charlie's immune system and is exiting his body in this beautiful rash. That's what the doctor called it, beautiful. I don't know about beautiful but it is definitely impressive to behold.
He said we could go home. He said we didn't need blood work. He said this was a beautifully well behaved condition that he would not be concerned about at all. He prescribed the antihistamine hydroxyzine and said it would knock Charlie out - and make him really thirsty. We were going home.
Bless his beautiful heart.
We arrived home shortly before 7 that evening. Wyatt arrived home shortly after. We were all back where we needed to be. We dosed Charlie up, he passed out, and didn't move but once that night, to roll from his back to his belly. He awoke at 7:30 Saturday morning looking much more like our dear little Charlie. His rash looked significantly better. Charlie is back. His feet are still fairly swollen - they started to swell as soon as we got to the hospital. I really believe that in this whole rash roller coaster, our arrival at the hospital was the peak of the worst of the symptoms. Down we go and I'm ready to jump off this carnival ride.
Time for life to settle down a little. And by settle down - I mean as settle as it can possibly get when you're entering summer with a three year old and one year old. Time to get back to good. Days playing outside for the entire morning, lunch under the big shade tree in the back yard, afternoons splashing in the baby pool. Sign me up. I'm there.
Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
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