Chicken Pox: Update

2 years, 2 months & 1 week old.....

When I wrote the last post, Ethan has actually recovered from Chicken Pox. The blisters had dried up. He was as active as usual. Thanks to all the mummies who dropped by this blog and gave your well wishes.

Although Ethan is vaccinated for Chicken Pox, I know there are chances that he will still be infected. I did some searching on the net and I found this from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to share with you all:

While no vaccine is 100% effective in preventing disease, the chickenpox vaccine is very effective: about 8 to 9 of every 10 people who are vaccinated are completely protected from chickenpox. In addition, the vaccine almost always prevents against severe disease. If a vaccinated person does get chickenpox, it is usually a very mild case lasting only a few days and involving fewer skin lesions (usually less than 50), mild or no fever, and few other symptoms.

While blog hopping, I also read in other mummies' blogs about the problem of feeding medicine to their children. I'm glad that I don't have to go through this. With the frequency of Ethan falling sick, I think I'll go nuts if I have to force feed medicine to him every time he falls sick. Unlike many other children, he likes medicine (please don't let my words jinx this...pleaasseee........)

I don't know whether or not to be proud of this but I'm definitely glad that he has no problem with medicine. When comes to feeding medicine, I just have to pump the medicine into the syringe and pass it to him. He will then happily pump it into his mouth. See it to believe it...hehehe

Note: Mummy was a little slow. Ethan has almost finished pumping the medicine when the video started. He still wants to play with the syringe afterwards.

Chicken Pox

2 years & 2 months old.....

Today, Ethan is 26 months old. Instead of doing an update on his development, I'm writing a sick post, yet again. Sigh....

It was on a Thursday (17 July 2008) evening at around 5.30 p.m. when I received a call from Hubby. I was at a hotel in KL getting ready for my company's annual dinner, when hubby told me that Ethan might have chicken pox. He had red spots all around his body and they itched. He has no fever though at that time. Hubby was told that a girl at the nursery got chicken pox the day before. After some discussions on the phone, I told hubby that it's better to send him to the paed. for a check. Thank goodness he did. Ethan was running a high fever at the clinic. The paed. could not confirm what it was because:

1. If it's chicken pox, Ethan should have infected from someone at the daycare two weeks earlier. It couldn't be the girl who got it the day before.
2. The red spots are scarce and not watery.

The paed. prescribed fever medicine and calamine lotion for Ethan and advised us to monitor his condition first. If more spots come out the day after, it should be chicken pox. The fever subsided after the medication until the next morning and it was a mild one. I also noticed more red spots on his body the day after, especially four blisters on Ethan's tongue. That got me worried........reeaaaalllly worried. What if it's not chicken pox but HFMD!! Both cause red watery spots on the body, although the spots of HFMD are more concentrated on the mouth, hands and legs, they do spread to other body parts. Ethan already got it twice, I dread to think on the 3rd time.

I spoke to the daycare again and they told me a boy got it two weeks earlier. Yaikkk!!.....how could they missed this piece of important info the day before. We went back to the clinic and told the paed. what we knew. After checking on Ethan again, he confirmed it's chicken pox! I'm kind of relieved, that it's not HFMD. The paed. said chicken pox will also cause blisters on the tongue. We got another set of medication: some pills for chicken pox (to let it heal faster) and a cream for the blisters on his tongue.

Overall, Ethan was active as usual even though his appetite was not very good. As predicted by the paed., the blisters dried up on the fourth day (Monday) and it's not contagious anymore at that time. Some information I gathered on chicken pox and HFMD:

1. For chicken pox, it's contagious at the beginning when the symptoms started until the blisters dry up. When I told this to one of the carer at the daycare, she said 'The doctors don't know anything' cause she believed what I used to believe (that it's contagious when the blisters dried up). I was speechless after hearing what she said.
2. The blisters can spread to tongue. In the case of HFMD, blisters can also spread to tongue and throat area. The only difference I noticed is the blisters for HFMD are more concentrated on mouth, hands and legs.
3. They are active as usual unlike HFMD, in which case they are more lethargic.
4. Fever subsided fairly quickly compared to HFMD.
5. Itchy rashes/blisters in the case of chicken pox.
6. Food wise, I avoided seafood (I fed him grouper though), chicken and egg on those few days until the blisters dried up. No scientific proof on this but no harm doing it, at least for the first few days. According to Chinese, more food to be avoided but I could not remember what else and for how long also.
   

Bad Things Come In Three?

22 months & 2 days old....

This will be the third consecutive post about Ethan being sick. Another episode of fever on Thursday (20 March 2008) evening and this time was because of throat infection.

(Updated on 24 March 2008)
I was only half way through the post when the Internet connection failed me. So, I have to update it now. Sorry to Darren's mummy that you have to read my unfinished post but thanks for your comments.

Actually, the throat infection came from me. I wasn't feeling well last week but I couldn't refrain myself from kissing Ethan. Hehehe....

Anyway, the fever lasted for a day and he is ok now (finger crossed). He was all well and happy before the fever. We went to the mall for lunch and some marketing. No symptoms or what so ever. Suddenly the fever came in the evening. We brought him to see the paed the next morning and he confirmed that it's due to throat infection. No antibiotic this time because he said it's not very serious and let the body fight for it. However, if the fever persists for another day then we should go back and ask for the antibiotic. He's right. Ethan won the war this time without antibiotic. A slight relieve.

Sigh......I am so paranoia now. I will touch his forehead whenever I wake up in the middle of the night (worry that he might have fever) and check his throat whenever he laugh or obligingly open his mouth when I ask 'where is your teeth?' (to check for throat infection and blisters).

Enjoying his carousel ride at the mall before he had the fever

It Was Ear Infection Lah

21 months, 2 weeks and 5 days old.....

The fever came back on Thursday evening, 6 March 2008. Needless to say, we made another visit to the paed. When I picked Ethan up at the daycare, I felt his body was warm. Bad sign! Checked his temperature once we reached home and it was 38.9C. Gave him medicine at 6.30 p.m. and called the clinic to make appointment.

Ethan has developed fear for doctors. I don't know why because the paed. is very friendly and gentle. When we arrived at the clinic, he was all ok and happy. He loves to be surrounded by children. But when we were called to the waiting room, he started to recognise things and asked his daddy to open the door and wanted to get out of the room. Things got worse when we went to the adjoining room to see the paed. The moment he saw the paed. he held on very tightly to his daddy and refused to look at the paed. The cry and wailing started when the doctor took his temperature. After checking his temperature, ears and throat, the doctor confirmed that it's ear infection and prescribed antibiotics for him. I think it's the third time for Ethan.

He was on the road of recovery after taking the antibiotics - but it's only his health not emotion. After this episode of sickness, Ethan became extremely CLINGY and 'UNREASONABLE'. He also developed a liking to cry whenever his wish was not fulfilled. He was never...NEVER... a 'cry' baby. Before this, he will only whine whenever he's unhappy or in pain but now, tears came rolling down his cheek within a second.....YES! ONE SECOND when things did not go his way. A sign of terrible two?

He refused to sit on the car seat (at the rear) and wanted to sit on the front passenger's seat. I gave up and put him in front with the safety belt strapped on him. He cried and wailed every morning when I drop him at the daycare. He even pulled my shirt and refused to let go. But he will stop shortly after I left. I witnessed that so I was kind of assured that he will be ok even though I look like a cruel mum, who left her son despite the crying and shirt pulling. I'm sure whoever saw the situation will think I'm a blardy cool blood mother. In that moment, I felt that way too.

I was late for work EVERY single morning since last Monday because I couldn't get up in the morning (due to the frequent wake-up at night) and Ethan refused to let go of me at the daycare. The worst was last Friday when I reached the office 1 hour late because I tried to settle him down before I left. Whoever came close or called out his name, he will cry. Tried various methods but all FAILED. In my last attempt, I sat with him on the swing for a good 15 minutes. In the end, he still cry when I left. FUTILE efforts.

Down With Fever, Flu and Cough

21 months, 1 week & 5 days old....

I think everytime after I said something good about Ethan, immediately something bad will happen. Just like the old folks said, "Don't compliment a child in front of him". I have to believe it now. I mentioned that Ethan's health has improved tremendously in the previous post. Then, he was already down with fever last Saturday.

I was attending a good friend's wedding tea ceremony in the morning and around noon I sms my sister to ask about Ethan. My mum babysat Ethan and my sister and niece were there as well. And I got a bad news! Ethan had fever and was given medicine. So I rushed back without a second thought. Me and hubby were to attend the wedding reception in the evening but I was prepared to abandon the plan. At around 4 p.m., the fever came back and I gave him another round of medicine. By 6.30p.m., he was ok and active as usual. So, we went ahead with the plan. Check with my sis on his condition and he was ok, no fever. At around midnight, the fever came back and we took him to his paed. the very next morning.

The last time Ethan went to see this paed (excluding immunisation) was in September 07 due to fever and diarrhoea. This time, no throat infection but he has to take 4 types of medicine - fever, sensitive nose, cough and phlegm. Luckily, Ethan has no problem in taking medicine (touch wood!). In fact he likes them. Choi Choi Choi!!

Jeeez......I can't recalled what exactly happened on Sunday after we visited the paed. Ok, fast forward a little. Monday.....can't recalled too. I only remembered I slept with him for the last few nights and kept on checking his temperature and he was ok. The fever came back yesterday at around 4 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Today, when Ethan woke up, he was SUPER cranky. He had very mild fever (less than 37.5 C) and his lips were all red like Snow White. I managed to take my bath but after that, he was a KOALA! Refused to let go of me and didn't want Daddy. When Daddy came closer he will SMACK Daddy and say NO! So, I decided to take EL and Daddy went to work. But he cried when Daddy left for work. Sigh...

I sat with him all the time watching his favourite VCDs. Then, he wanted to move around but wanted me to carry him instead. So, I carried him and walked around. When I wanted to sit, he CRIED! I was so helpless. Don't know what to do with him. Thank goodness he did not demand me to drink his milk from the bottle like what happened to this mummy. He looked so moody and sad. Then, I asked him "Do you want to go to Kakak?" He smiled with a nod and said "Kakak ah! Wan ah! kakak..." Off we went to Kakak (the daycare).

When we arrived his friends were playing at the lawn. He was happy and I put him on the swing together with two other girls. When I walked away to put his bag and sign in, he cried a little but stopped shortly after that. I came out to find him sitting quietly on the swing in the same position, looking blankly at other kids. My heart sank even though he did not cry. It was not his usual self. He would be all over the place if he is well.

After dropping him at the daycare (around 9a.m.) I went to the Chinese Medical Hall to buy some herbs to cool his body down. Thanks to Darren's mummy. I already had something in mind. When I asked the senseh what to boil for children of around 2 years old for heaty, he said the same thing - "Ling yong". Cost RM10 per (small little) pack and I was advised to boil 2 packs with 5 bowls of water. Tapau noodle for my brunch and went straight home to boil the thing for Ethan. I was told to boil it for around 2.5-3 hours. While waiting for it, I did some house chores - laundry, mop the floor, changed the bedsheet, watered my dying plants, etc. Since I only took half day off, I sent the herbs to the daycare and went to work.

I hope he gets better by now. By the way, there is no improvement on his flu and cough since Saturday.

Why Must They Suffer?

14 months & 2 days old.....

They….I mean the children. Children getting sick are very common, as we all know it. Flu, fever, ear infection, chicken pox, measles, HFMD and what not. But when they get sick back to back, it’s really heart breaking and frustrating. I’m only talking about the minor sickness, not some chronic diseases. Those are unbearable, to me.

Barely one week after recovering from HFMD, Ethan was down again with viral fever and was hospitalised for two nights. He started to have fever on Thursday (19 July 2007) evening. Given him medication before sleep and a suppository at around 6 a.m. He was ok on Friday but when I picked him up in the evening, his body was quite warm. His temperature was between 38.3 and 38.5 C. I continued to give him medication. On Saturday afternoon, his temperature rose up to 38.7 and I quickly gave him another supp.

Thinking and hoping that it was due to teething, we just monitored his condition. But things took a bad turn on Sunday. The day he supposed to be celebrating his 14 months. He started to have diarrhea and the fever came back. Another supp went in at 6.30 p.m. and we decided to bring him to the hospital. We reached there around 9.30 p.m. The nurse at the registration counter took down some details and she made a remark “4 days of fever and you never bring him to any doctor?” Yeah, well…..I just swallowed the comment. The doctor suggested a blood test and admission for monitoring. It was something which I have expected. Even if we go home, we will send him back in the midnight should the fever come back. What worried me most was that he just recovered from HFMD.

We waited for the paed. to check on him and do the blood test at the A&E ward before we were brought to the paediatric ward. When Ethan first saw the paed., he was smiling at him but once the doctor put the stethoscope on his chest, he started to cry and wail. The paed. left us for a while and prepared for a blood test. The moment Ethan saw him again, he started to wail and cried “AH NEHHH! AH NEHHH! AH NEHHH!” non-stop. I think the old man on the next bed, who was having breathing difficulty could have been brought back to life by Ethan's cry. His heavy breathing went back to normal after that. His cry was so loud that the whole A&E ward could hear him. He was tied down with a blanket and I was holding him down when the doctor took the 5ml blood. After the admission procedure, we were brought to the ward at around 11.30 p.m. and Ethan finally fell asleep at pass midnight.

I slept with him on a bed while hubby went home. Ethan was put on drip and the nurses came in to check his temperature every 2 hours. So, I practically woke up every 2 hours, plus a few times in between because the bed was so small and Ethan is so used to his queen-size mattress. Every time he turned I will wake up and the tube for the drip is also very disturbing. It leaked a few times and finally came off in the morning. He had fever again around 5 a.m. and was given another supp. I decided to wake up at 5.30 a.m. and sms hubby asking him to take the day off. Before long, Ethan poop again. I changed him and called up hubby. He decided to take the day off.

We switched him to lactose free milk and the diarrhea stop. But then, after taking the milk for a few times, Ethan refused to take it anymore. So, we gave him his normal milk but the diarrhea came back. We have no choice but to mix the milk powder. I know we are not supposed to mix different milk formula in one feed but what choice do we have? Thank goodness, he’s ok with it so far.

To cut the long story short, the paed. allowed Ethan to be discharged on Tuesday after he was cleared of fever and his condition was stable. It was very uncomfortable in the hospital. We cannot put Ethan down to play or crawl. Not even in the play room because he still like to put things into his mouth. We had to carry him all the time walking up and down aimlessly at the ward. By the way, the bill came up to more than RM 2K. Luckily, it was covered by the insurance.

HFMD Again!

13 months 3 weeks & 3 days old.....

The first time Ethan had it, it was very light and we didn't noticed it until he almost fully recovered. This time, he was not so lucky. Until now, we have no idea where he got it. Nobody at the day care got it and he did not spread it to other kids, thank goodness. It started with a fever on Sunday (8 July). The fever refused to go away even after medication twice and I began to worry when the temperature was still at 38 oc at 10 p.m. We brought him to the hospital and the doctor said he got throat infection. (I will never go to that hospital again!) Ethan was given suppository and the fever went down until it returned again early in the morning. So, I've decided to take half day off and went to my mother's house so that he can stay there when I go to work. At that time, the fever was under control.

Then, at around 11.30 a.m. I started to notice some red spots on Ethan's hand and leg. My heart beat shot up immediately! When I checked his mouth, I saw two ulcers on his tongue. That's it! Heart beat gone haywire! Call up hubby immediately and we went back to see Ethan's paed. The paed. confirmed it. Took some medication and went home. No need hospitalisation, just monitor him at home. The paed. said the ulcers on the mouth will recover in 3 days time and advised us to feed him more water. True enough, we went back for check-up on Wednesday and the ulcers were gone but the spots on his body were pretty bad. Some spots were like rashes and some like chicken pox. The spots were on his hands, legs, buttock and neck area. Some scars are still visible today.

The red spots on his thigh

....and mouth

I took the whole week off to take care of him at home. I tell you, it can be very stressful taking care of a sick child. He was extremely clingy and cranky. When he's in a good mood, he will play on his own while watching barney/ other cds. At other times, he just want me to carry him and walk around the house and refused to let me sit down! Refused to let daddy carry too. Even when he's very sleepy, he will not sleep without kicking up a fuss.

Ok, the bad thing is over. Something good also happened last week. We saw Ethan pulled himself up to a stand for the first time. He also made a few wobbly steps. We always encourage him to stand and walk but he was not keen. Sometimes, when we hold his hands, he will just pull our hands and bend his knees or even wrap his legs around our leg (like a koala bear). See the video below. (You have to tilt your head a bit because I cannot rotate it....hehehe)

Eye Infection (Updated with photo)

Ethan's right eye was swollen on Saturday and got worse on Sunday. When I first saw his eye was reddish, I thought it will go away after a while. No, it didn't. By evening, it got worse but the two clinics that we normally brought him to are closed on Saturday's and Sunday's evenings. My mother said 'small matter only mar, need to see doctor mer?' She dab some chrysanthemum on his eye but it didn't help much. Being the 'kan cheong' me, I of course want his paed to check on him.

The clinic opens at 9am. So, the first thing we did at 9 am sharp was call to make an appointment. I didn't know their business was so good, the earliest appointment we got was at 12.10pm. We were there on time and by the time we went out from the clinic, it was already 1.30pm. Ethan was so hungry and was fussing in the car on the way home. Luckily the clinic is near our house. The paed said it was either insect bite or infection caused by rubbing. He gave us a cream to apply and said it should go away in two days. True enough, Ethan's eye is ok now.

Ear Infection

My my....you see lar. Just recovered from the HFMD got ear infection pulak. Me and hubby were having dinner at a restaurant yesterday after picking Ethan up from the day care when I suddenly saw Ethan's right ear had one thick layer of yellow-brown wax. It was like 1mm thick and looked like the little yellow tube for bicylce tyre. If you know what I mean. So I immediately called up the clinic and made an appointment for Ethan at 6.45 pm.

The paed. said it was ear infection and is one of the complications caused by flu. He explained that babies ear tubes are horizontal and the fuid from the nose can easily flow to the ears. The fuid/mucous will break the ear drum and it is very painful. Eventually the fluid will come out from the ears. When the paed. clean Ethan's ear with a cotton bud, the inner layer of the fluid, which I initially thought was wax, was greenish in colour. It looked exactly like the mucous from his nose. Previosuly, when Ethan had flu, there were yellow-greenish things coming out from his eyes especially after sleep. So, this fluid from the nose can flow to his ears and eyes lar.

Now I know why he was super super cranky during the last weekend. Crying and wanted to be carried all the time. I have to shake him in my arms until he felt dizzy before he can calm down and sleep. No other methods work. Hubby cannot make him sleep. I don't know whether it was because he was lazy to shake Ethan like what I did or Ethan does not like Daddy's arm. Mummy's arm more flabby mar, more comfortable lor.

I was supposed to attend a gathering at my classmates house on Saturday night but I was too exhausted to attend after entertaining Ethan and cleaning the kitchen for the whole day. Can you imagine I have to listen to his cry while cleaning the kitchen for at least 3 hours. Hubby just cannot pacify him....ARGHHHHHHH....I also cried out of frustration after that. Almost wanted to pack my stuff and go to my mother's house with Ethan. But then, I thought why want to let him enjoy and stay at home leisurely ler. Want to suffer, suffer together lar. Right or not?

Fits

I received a call from the nursery owner (lets call her M) last Thursday morning telling me that Ethan just had an episode of fits. She said his hands and legs were cold and shivering, eyes rolled up, mouth opened and looked very pale. He was playing in the playpen at that time. All the other staff were scared and M picked Ethan up and tried to wake him up because he looked like almost wanted to pass out. I think she patted him on the back and he smiled at them. The episode lasted for around 15 seconds.

Oh man, my heart was pounding like mad. Immediately, after putting down the phone, I rushed to the nursery to pick Ethan up and brought him to see his paed. When I told the paed that he had fits but no fever, he was shocked. He did not fall either (that's what I was told). So I told him what happened at the nursery and he called M to get a better picture of what happened there. After that, he said it's very unlikely that Ethan had fits. Firstly because it lasted only for 15 seconds whereas fits will last for a few minutes. Secondly, he was not jerking but shaking. The paed also said if Ethan really had fits, he would need to go for a thorough check which includes brain scanning and will given anaesthetic or something like that. It will be traumatic for Ethan and for us as well. Gosh, I cannot imagine my son going through that kind of thing at his tender age. During the whole consultation, the little guy was his usual self and I'm a bit relieved to see that he was active and playful. So, the paed asked me to observe his condition.

Then I sent Ethan back to the nursery. I told M and the rest of the girls there what the paed said. You know what? They did not believed the paed. I was just trying to calm myself down and they started to make me get worried again. I stayed there for a while and chatted with M. She's a nurse, so is another lady, L, who is employed by M to take care of the young babies. M advised me to get second opinion and gave me the contact details of another paed.

I tried to call the no. given but nobody pick up the phone. So we decided to go to another paed, whom Ethan visited before, on Friday night. This paed was also recommended by M and he is a very experienced doctor. The discussion was so long I think people waiting outside must be swearing already. The conclusion was the same. Very unlikely to be fits. What a RELIEF! Other important points are:
1. If someone is having fits, you will not be able to wake him up.
2. After having fits, a person will go to sleep for a while and NOT SMILE at you.
3. He will be biting his teeth not opening his mouth.
4. His hands will jerk (with rhythm) not shake.

Anyway, the paed gave us a medicine to keep just in case the real thing happen. He also recommended a neurologist (is the spelling correct ar?) if we really really want to sent Ethan for a thorough check-up. Both hubby and me discussed and decided not to put our little boy through the horrible thing.

M called on Monday morning and I told her what the paed said. She was also relieved. The strange thing was when I told L what the second paed said, she asked me to get third opinion!!! Crazy mer!!! I don't know what was in her mind lar but I just said no.



(What? Another doctor???)

Haiya...Sick Again

Ya, it's my little darling. This time, the mucous is green and very sticky and he cough quite badly. He just recovered from cough and cold a couple of weeks ago and was sick again since Sunday night. His nose was blocked and couldn't sleep well last night and the night before. He kept waking up and turning around looking for a comfortable position. I woke up everytime he changed his position...that was at least twice in one hour. Poor baby, so I carried him to sleep a few times and he slept better...walau er very tiring lar....so have to put him back on the mattress after 30 minutes or so. What was the man doing when all this happened? ZZZZZZZZZZ and only opened his eyes when Ethan made noise...only loud noise..aaarrrrrrrgggghhhhhh....was upset but want to nag also tak sempat caused very tired..will do it tonight.

Guess the medicine was not working well. Gave him 'hao chou sarn' also but not very effective. Must buy the one from 'eu yan sang' mer, very expensive wor...one little bottle for one day dosage cost RM100+. Better bring him back to the paed lar tonight...