A Little Something for My Dental Hygiene Buddies (and Cliff & Briana)

Recognize this rash?





When I was in Dental Hygiene, we studied different things that could occur orally as well as other places on the body. For some reason, I can remember the name of this stupid rash, but I can't remember what movie I watched last week. It's Erythema Multiforme. See the bullseyes/targets all over? Crazy. I came up with the acronym B.E.M. (Bullseye=Erythema Multiforme) to remember it when I went to take our written boards.

Anyway, here's Jason's story: (It's a long and boring one...but it's less for my readers, and more for my memory.)

I noticed red dots showing up in the diaper region, but not on his bottom, just on his tummy and inner thighs. The next day it was much worse and spread out. Plus he was itching it. I didn't want to take him to the doctor, what's the doctor going to do? Tell me it's a rash and it'll go away?

So the next morning it was MORE spread and I was getting worried. So I made an appointment with our doctor. When I took Jason's clothes off to show the doctor, I noticed the rash had changed. It wasn't just red welt looking things, but more of a "target" shape. As soon as I saw that (while in the doctors office) I thought: "hey! I know what this is!" The doctor says: "Ah, see the targets?" Like it's common knowledge that everyone knows what this rash is and how it looks. Maybe they do, who knows. And then told me it was Erythema Multiforme. Even though in my head I though: "BEM, Erythema Multiforme." Because I'm ridiculous like that.

So he asked me a bunch of questions to make sure it wasn't a more serious case--apparently this particular rash can be much worse, and cause all sorts of problems. Then he sent me home. And said it will go away. Of course. To be fair, he did call me that night to see how Jason was doing. Not a whole lot of change.

Then next day, Jason's feet were so swollen I couldn't get his shoes on. At all. Not even close. I also noticed his hands looked swollen. I had to take the other kids to school, and every time I put him in his car seat, he'd cry because he had to move his hands. So sad! He wouldn't hold anything, either. As I was going throughout the day, I noticed his hands swelling more and more. And he wouldn't walk. And his fingertips and toes were turning purple. So I called the doctor's office again. This time I saw the doctors wife, who is a nurse practitioner. The doctor wasn't there, he was doing hospital stuff. This is fine, because I like them both a lot. Anyway, she asked me some questions, called her husband, and then said they wanted to get some blood and a urine sample to check some other things out because swelling doesn't usually go along with this rash. She looked pretty worried about this swelling.

This is where it got hard for me. I don't really have problems holding my kids to get vaccinations. Not a big deal. But they stuck Jason the first time and he was SOOOO good. They got some blood and then he squirmed a bit and they couldn't find the vein again. Then they tried again, and again. And Jason's getting pretty upset because he knows what they're going for. So I'm really having to hold him down. And they tried again, and again. They kept giving him breaks, like this would calm him down or something. They tried for a freaking hour to get more blood and I'm getting upset. Really mad. I know it's their job, and I'm sure it's really hard to get blood from a squirmy two year old. But come on, an hour? And he's mad. And I'm trying to hold it together because the poor kid is really sad that I'm holding him down. Also I forget to mention that the other 3 kids are with me because I just picked them up from school. And we are all in a TINY room. Or it seems tiny with myself, four kids, and two phlebotomists. And the kids keep asking questions. Not the normal questions you would think, like: Is Jason Ok? More like: "When can we get our suckers?" "When can we leave?" And the likes. They finally decide they're going to stop and see what they can do with the blood they got on the first stick. Great. And if they decide he needs more tests, they'll try again tomorrow--or send him to the hospital to get blood drawn. Awesome.

So they gave Jason a sample of a steroid, because the pharmacies in our town are closing down at this hour. And she gives me a prescription for the same steroid to pick up in the morning. Plus I'm supposed to give him a couple antihistamines each day--just in case. So we go home. Jason was finally able to walk right before bed. It looked like the swelling had gone down a lot in his hands and feet. And the rash was already a LOT lighter. The above picture was taken this night.

The next morning, he woke up and you could BARELY see the rash. It was crazy. It seemed like each day was so much worse and I figured when it started to go away, it would be gradual. Also his hands and feet looked great. As we went through our morning, Trevor and I noticed his ear was swelling. We still had to go pick up the prescription, so we went and got that. By the time we got there, his ear was like twice the size of his other one. We gave him the steroid, and down it went. Weird. Also when I was supposed to give him a dose that night, I was getting his pajamas on and noticed it looked like the rash was starting again in other places. I gave him his medicine, and put him to bed. And the next day--fine again. Good times. Also the doctor was great. Wanting to check on him each day, and calling each night to make sure he was doing all right.

The happy ending is: he's fine. Totally fine. But just so you know, steroids make little boys hyper.