Today we are on day “awful” of “holy hell.” Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease is a terrible thing. Our pediatrician yesterday left me with these parting words, “try to remember, in your darkest hour, that this too shall pass.”
What did he mean by that, exactly? I knew my son was sick and cranky. But I didn’t quite grasp the brevity and fully appreciate the meaning behind those parting words until last night.
Little Boo was cranky all day yesterday because the night before (Sunday evening) he had a difficult time settling down. We partially blamed teething and partially blamed general discomfort. He had a wicked high fever (103.8) and we placed a frantic call to the doctor that night.
Yesterday he seemed better. Ish. I still took him in, though. It seemed like I should considering how high his temperature had been. Good thing I did. Doc diagnosed him with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.
In summary, here’s what the doc told me:
- He has sores on the back of his throat and they are very painful. (I’ve never heard him say that before and lord knows we’ve been to see him for a ton of illnesses already, so I knew this was serious.)
- There is nothing we can do for him except keep him comfortable with ibuprofen, cold washcloth for the fever, popsicles, soup, etc. You know, the regular sick-kid remedies.
- The worst part of Hand, Foot and Mouth is that it can last up to seven days.
- He also may not want to eat, so we are supposed to push fluids and basically anything with some sort of calories.
Nothing really scary or alarming in any of the things he told me. Except for the “in your darkest hour” bit.
Last night we settle Boo down for bed, and he’s asleep by 9. No sooner had we put on our own pajamas and settled in to watch some nighttime tube does Boo wake up sobbing and near hysterical.
Seems like a repeat of the night before.
Sure enough, he’s inconsolable and won’t settle back down in his own room to go back to sleep. No high fever this time, though. We bring him in our room and watch some TV with him, read some books, sing some songs. I heard his tummy grumbling so I thought we should try some food. He had three goldfish, two yogurt covered raisins, and refused juice and water.
After finally calming him down and seeing how sleepy he still was, my husband ushered him back into bed around 10:30.
Baby sleeps.
Until 12:45 am.
Remember the routine I just explained? Same one. Just insert “watch Baby Mozart” instead of “try some food.”
Finally back to bed just before 2:00 am.
And wake up one more time to a crying, inconsolable toddler at 6:30 am.
This morning wasn’t much better. After we said bye bye to Dah for the day and a lackluster attempt at a breakfast, we settled in to enjoy a morning thunderstorm and two full hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. With intermittent crying, of course.
Still barely eating, still uncomfortable as hell. Still no sign of his pain letting up.
It is a heart wrenching, terrible illness.
Thanks for the warning, doc. Now I know what you meant…
For more information on Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, click here.
