Who Knew?

Last week Coleman said his bum was itchy.

At a family party he told his uncle "You should go easy on me, I have a rash you know."

I was sure it was a hygiene issue.

I did what every good mom would do--I helped him wipe, I bought Cottonelle flushable wipes, we even purchased Bordeaux Butt Paste which is guaranteed to soothe many a rash on tender backsides. It still itched. I gave him Benadryl when the itch woke him up at night. I tried cortisone cream when the butt paste didn't seem to make the itch or redness go away, and he seemed to be fine.

Last week Olivia complained of a sore throat.

She came home from school early one day, but seemed fine the rest of the week.

Last night, she felt warm and said that her throat REALLY hurt. We gave her a dose of ibuprofen and called it good.

This morning, it still really hurt. I debated about sending her to school anyway, but she looked pretty sick, so I called the doctor instead.

A throat swab and rapid strep test confirmed it--strep throat.

Our competent doctor asked if Coleman had any symptoms. I said he hadn't shown any symptoms.

I had read the large print sign instructing parents that each child needed their own appointment and that they couldn't fit in additional children... but I went ahead anyway, I just wanted to make sure cortisone was okay for little behinds.

I said, "I swore I'd never be one of those parents that tried to get a two-fer in an appointment, but Coleman's had a red, itchy bum and I've been putting cortisone on it, is that okay?"

Our doctor's eyes grew wide and she said, "That is classic strep. Sometimes it manifests itself there instead of in the throat."

She did a swab test to culture (oddly, it seemed less invasive to Coleman than the throat swab was to Liv) and it came back very positive.

We paid our co-pay for Coleman.

Both kids got leprechaun stickers (sadly for them they'll have to miss out on the St. Patrick's Day festivities at school).

We went home armed with two prescriptions for antibiotics and Polysporin cream for Coleman's itch.

I thought I had never heard of Bum Strep before, but remembering back to that less than pleasant swipe in late pregnancy to test for Strep... I have indeed heard of it... I have in fact had it. (Way too much information, no?)

Many apologies to any and all that we may have unknowingly infected--but in general we try to not let our kids sneeze on other people, lick them, or even share utensils or cups. If your children got infected from ours... my deepest sympathies.

I'm sure you understand why there are no pictures included with this post.