Sick Sick Sick

We just can't seem to get healthy at our house. The illnesses are flip-flopping between children. Sunday night it was obvious that Makenna was coming down with something and we were praying it was just a cold. Well Monday morning she kept complaining of a sore throat so I took a look at her throat with a flashlight. Her tonsils were so swollen that they were practically touching in the back of her throat and there were these little abrasions all over them. They looked horrible. Luckily the doctor's office had a cancellation in their schedule because they were otherwise full for Monday. The doctor was so shocked by what she saw in Makenna's throat that she didn't even do the typical swab because she said there was no point in putting her through that pain when it was visibly obvious that she had strep. From what I know, I don't think they forego the swab test very often. So the doctor got us on antibiotics immediately, but of course that couldn't be the end of it.

Last night when we were giving Makenna a bath we noticed a rash all over her torso. She has had allergic reactions to another antibiotic before (Bactrim) so the doctor told me to really watch her with this one. And low and behold, she's allergic once again. I called the doctor on call who very nicely called in a different prescription at 9:00 at night for us so we could try something else today. The doctor last night was very helpful and basically informed me that since Makenna seems to apparently be allergic to Cephalexin as well, that this could pose problems since that particular drug is a member of one of the largest antibiotic families. Therefore taking away most of our options for penicillin/antibiotics if she ever were to get sick in the future. She said that there were a few other options out there (for example the Azithromycin they put her on next) but nothing strong if she were to get really sick. That is very frightening for me to think that if my child were to get really sick that there aren't a whole lot of options out there for her.

So after thinking it through and talking to yet another nurse this morning, I think I'm going to make an appointment to talk to the doctor about this now so we don't have to deal with the guessing game the next time she gets sick. I know that allergy testing might be an option but I'm not sure if that's something I want to put a 3 year old through. I guess we'll weigh the pros and cons with our doctor.

The good news is that Makenna seems to be feeling better and I think she is handling the current antibiotic just fine. Our nights have been horrendous with her as she seems to get feverish (causing nightmares), her rash itches and she just plain old can't sleep. I was pretty much with her from 12 - 7 last night. Since I went to bed after 11:00 last night that didn't add up to a whole lot of sleep. Thank goodness for my sweet dear husband who worked from home until 9:00 this morning so I could at least get a few more hours of sleep. Thank goodness for a flexible work schedule. Despite not feeling the best, Makenna is acting fairly normal and even managed to beat me in 2 out of 3 games of Dora Memory today (and trust me, I was not letting her win!).