The case of the mysterious rash
On Thursday afternoon Joe started to feel sick. I also noticed a few small red bumps on Simon’s face. I didn’t think too much of Simon’s rash and was primarily concerned with Joe’s fever he developed later that evening.
During the night Joe’s fever rose and I knew he was sick and wouldn’t be going to work on Friday. So when the boys woke up early I quickly got them dress to run a few errands while Joe and Abel still slept. We spent the rest of the morning quietly playing trying to let Joe rest. After lunch I decided to take the boys to the pool. Abel was asleep again and while Simon usually takes a nap he was in such good spirits I thought we could fit in a quick pool trip.
At the pool when I removed Simon’s shirt I noticed a rash all over his torso. My first thought was chicken pox and thanks to my smart phone I did a little research which said chicken pox presents with fever, fatigue and loss of appetite… all of which Simon did NOT have. So we stayed at the pool for a short time but before leaving the pool I called the nurse line at our pediatrician and left a message.
I consulted a few friends and social media and everyone had differing opinions. It’s hard to tell in the photos but they are individual small red bumps. The bumps cover almost every inch of his body.
The nurse called back and suggested we come in but because it might be chicken pox we had to use extra caution. They scheduled us for the end of the day and ushered us in through the back door. (Trying to keep exposure to a minimum) The nurse and doctors weren’t confident it was chicken pox but because of how contagious the disease is they instructed us to treat it as such. They offered to prescribe Simon an antiviral but cautioned that it was very expensive and might not be totally necessary. We opted out of the antiviral primarily because Simon seemed so completely unaffected by the rash. They did draw blood to test for chicken pox but we won’t receive the result until sometime next week.
We continued to watch the rash and tried to keep him and Abel separate as much as possible. The next day the rash looked less swollen but Joe developed the same rash on his torso. Joe said the rash didn’t itch and we contemplated sending him to the doctor but since he was actually feeling better than the previous day we decided to wait it out.
The following day (day 3 of Simon’s rash) Simon’s rash is almost gone. There was never any blistering or scabbing which is typical of chicken pox and he never had a fever or any other sick symptoms. Joe’s rash was starting to lighten and he is also feeling better.
We are completely perplexed by this rash. My only thought is that it was some virus that made Joe sick but only presented as a rash in Simon.
