Not Good

The words no mom ever wants to hear a day before leaving on vacation: "Yep, it's strep!" Yep, we got that news today. And the weird thing is that the news, even though it was received because we were there specifically to get him tested for it, really was a huge surprise.

Let me tell you this kid has not acted sick once this week. The only and one clue: First thing in the morning and just before going to bed, he'd casually say, "My throat hurts. I need to go to the doctor." The rest of the day, if you asked him if his throat or ears were hurting, he would shake his head and keep on playing.

I first remember him announcing his throat hurt on Sunday morning. I asked about his ears, checked for a fever, looked at his throat with a flashlight, looked for the inevitable runny nose and saw nothing, and then he was off and running. Oh yeah, we went to church.

And Monday morning, he announced yet again that his throat hurt and he needed to go to the doctor. But again, no fever, no red throat, no ears hurting, no runny nose, nothing. So, he went to daycare.....all week long.

Granted, he screamed and kicked all the way home on Monday because he insisted on seeing the doctor. But I thought that was more because he heard his sister announce that she had seen the doctor that morning and he was jealous and wanted to go too. And so I ignored the temper tantrum. Maybe I shouldn't have. But then again, he threw the exact same temper tantrum the rest of the week because he wanted to go on "cation" (his word for vacation) to his Mina and Parker's house. So I ignored it. Again, though, no fever, no red throat, no red ears, yada yada yada.

Yesterday, though, I got a call from Will's teacher at daycare. She called because she was getting ready to leave for the day and wanted to make sure I heard that he had complained twice of a sore throat all day. She said she hadn't worried about it either (for the same reasons) but she suddenly started worrying when she found out that his best friend in the room, the little boy he has basically grown up with and followed from room to room to room from the time they were eight weeks old and to whom he's basically attached to the hip, had gone to the doctor that morning and had been diagnosed with strep.

Ummm...those aren't words you want to hear either the day before you leave on "cation."

I walked up and down the halls to my office, trying to figure out if I really needed to take him to the doctor. I wanted to be cautious and protect my new six-month little niece and my 80 year-old grandparents. But I've done this before. I've played the role of overprotective, overworrying mom who tried to play medical detective and paid that $25 copay just to have the pediatrician look at me with a smile and say, "No, it's only a small cold. It will pass in a few days." I hate those words. I feel like I failed. I feel like the doctor's office is laughing at that overprotective, overworrying mama. And I really hate kissing that $25 copay goodbye just because not a thing was wrong.

I finally gave in and called the doctor's office to make an appointment for first thing this morning. Of course, on the way home, I asked Will if his throat was hurting and he just shook his head and said, "No. It's not hurting." He said it again all night last night too. I took him anyway because, darn it, I had the appointment.

Ummm...yeah. It's strep. And while I'm thrilled I guessed right for once in my life, I want to know why in the world a 3 year old boy gets to get strep and run around like he has not a care in the world with joy and glee, while my one and only bout of strep (beyond the few I can't remember in my own childhood), left me lying in bed and begging God to just take me now. I wanted death to come and QUICKLY. It's so not fair. It's also so not fair that God blessed me with children who frequently have common illness without all the normal symptoms. You know, we've seen a rash up and down AC's arm that turned out to be strep (no fever, no sore throat, just a weird rash). We've taken AC to the doctor because of a stomach complaint just to find out the poor child had strep and pneumonia at the same time! And this isn't the first time Will has had a symptom-less bout of strep. The last time that happened I had taken him to the doctor because his voice sounded funny. Now you tell me, aren't these weird children!!! No wonder I have to second-guess and pace up and down the hallway before making a decision to take either child to the doctor!

So I need to close this email out with a word of reassurance in case my family is reading this post before they see me tomorrow. Please don't worry. According to my pediatrician (whom I love dearly and trust implicitly because she doesn't laugh too hard at my failed guesses), 6 month-old babies are too young to get strep. So my sweet little neice is safe. And he will be completely non-contagious by Saturday morning so my 80 year grandparents are completely safe since it will be late mid to late Saturday before my son comes anywhere near you. As for the rest of my family who will see him before his fourth dose of medicine on Saturday morning, ummmm, you might not want to share any food or drinks with him tomorrow night. And I probably wouldn't kiss him on the mouth. And you may not want to hug him too closely. We love you too much to want you to get a symptom-less bout of strep.