Pediatrician, Dermatologist and Ob's...OH MY!

Well, our poor son was born with super sensitive skin and I have been kinda lazy about it. Shame on Mommy! Thursday night I noticed a little bump on one of his elbows. I told Nick that I thought Neacel had a wart and we should get something for it. Friday, I checked the "wart" and everything looked the same. Saturday, we were getting ready to leave the house for the day and we notice he has more bumps on his legs and arms. I text my good friend Jen who is a nurse, and alot easier to get a hold of than the pediatrician's nurse, and she mentioned it might be chickenpox, among a few other things. We don't worry about it much, but later that evening notice that the bumps are getting bigger and that there are a good amount more; some even are fluid filled.

So Saturday night, I call about 3 or 4 different clinics that are open late and talk to the Dr. or nurse on call. They all say that by the sound of these bumps that it's chickenpox. For me this turns into a panic, as I didn't have chickenpox that bad as a child and have been told that because it was such a mild case, I can get them again. So my dear hubby runs Neacel to Kids Care 3 minutes before they close (10 pm), because we can't take the risk of this being chickenpox and me catching it while pregnant. He comes home saying that they said it was Gianoti Crosti Syndrome, it's not contagious, and it could have been brought on by the immunization he got at his checkup. I couldn't remember the shot, but for some reason I thought it was Hep B, which can be a cause for the illness.

We go about Sunday not worrying about anything and just keeping an eye on him. We noticed some more bumps but after being told what it was and that it wasn't contagious we weren't too worried. After talking about it we decided that I would take Neacel to the pediatrician's Monday, to get a second opinion.

Monday, Nick goes to the appointment with us, and Dr. Palmieri and one of her partners both say it's chickenpox. SERIOUSLY? I'm kinda freaking out because now I've been exposed for a good amount of time and I have to start making calls to all our friends we have seen in the past week and tell them that Neacel has the chickenpox. How embarrassing! They say that there is a 50% chance it isn't chickenpox but can't confirm anything until Neacel sees a dermatologist. She also says that the shot he had this past Wednesday was the HIB shot, which won't cause Gianoti Crosti. She then tells me that I need to get ahold of my OB and get a blood test to see if I'm immune to chickenpox or not.

So after a few calls, I get to the hospital and get that test done (still waiting on results of course). So we treated him like it was chickenpox, because you can never be too sure, right?

Today, we saw the dermatologist, who takes one look at his skin and says it's the Gianoti Crosti Syndrome, not chickenpox. Oh thank goodness! His eczema has gotten the best of him, and because we haven't been too wonderful at remembering to put his lotion on, this is what has happened. I feel horrible. She was explaining to us that the skin barrier is thin with eczema, and so it was easy for him to catch whatever virus caused the rash.

After seeing some pictures of kids with this, we were concerned about how much worse it was going to get. Luckily, she thinks it's at its peak and won't get worse. He has it all over his legs and bum, and then around his elbows. She gave us a stronger lotion to build the skin barrier and one to help the bumps. I'm mostly worried about people that see it and think that he has the chickenpox, and why the heck would we take him out in public? So anyone that sees us and notices his skin, I promise you, he is safe and not contagious! Don't believe me, Google it!

I've learned many important things, and am so thankful for things that I don't even think about. I learned that if the Dr. tells you to remember to put lotion on your child's skin a few times a day, DO IT!

If you aren't sure about something that you have been told, a second, or maybe even third opinion is always best.

I'm so thankful for Nick's job that has been more than understanding with everything. He took off half the day yesterday and all of today to help me take Neacel to the appointments and to make sure I was ok, along with the little baby.

I'm so thankful for our insurance. I don't think about it much, but take advantage of having it. I was thinking about how horrible would the bills be for the past few appointments? With a move coming up, we don't have spare money to spend.

I'm so thankful for our health and for priesthood blessings, which Nick and his father gave me.

This list of course goes on and on but these are the recent ones for me.

Neacel is doing great and doesn't even realize what's on his skin, in fact I don't think he has even looked it. He is doing well, and thankfully isn't contagious! I'm so glad we didn't have to make a few horrible phone calls to some very good friends.