OT: Chicken Pox

Lynne, I am sorry to hear about the chicken pox! Did your son have the small pox inoculation? I know they stopped giving it about 20 some years ago and now it seems a lot of people are getting chicken pox and supposedly, they had the chicken pox vaccine.

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

a good friend is a life long treasure

Oh goodness.. Hope he gets better soon.

Poor him and poor you! I hope your heart is filled with patience this week! I'm sure having a teen down with chicken pox will not be a fun thing!

Oh the poor kid. I didn't want my youngest to get the shot but the made me if I wanted him to go to school. They told me they didn't know how long the shot would last. My oldest got the chicken pox so we didn't have to worry about the shot. Maybe I should have said he already had the chicken pox and let him get them.

This is a bad time of year to be off. With school being almost out for the summer. Classes are finishing up on projects. Hopefully he can do his stuff at home.

Hope he gets to feeling better soon.

Hope all goes well for him. Tell him to take warm showers - that will bring them out so he will get over them sooner. All five of my kids had the chicken pox, only the last two were at the right age for the vaccine, but came down with them before it could be given - so they never got the shot either. Scrappin sounds good to me..... Sandy

my dd's VERY favorite picture, in 23 albums worth of shots, is one where I took her MagnaDoodle (but you could use posterboard, or a chalkboard) and wrote "CHICKEN POX" on it and had her hold it, in her jammies, covered with red spots on her....it is SO cute!!!

OH I can so relate to what he is going through! My last week of 8th grade I got the chicken pox and I had to miss the class picnic at the park! I was so embarrassed, and very disappointed that I couldn't go. Poor kid!! Oatmeal baths are very soothing for the itch too! I hope he can keep up with his school work while he is out! Linda C

This brings back terrible memories for me. I was in the 6th grade when I got the chicken pox for the first and only time. They were the size of quarters (in my ears, scalp, even in my mouth, everywhere). They almost hospitalized me they were so big and every where. In was the end of the school year to and I can remember it being hot and sticky. The best thing was Aveeno baths (oatmeal bath). I hope he gets well fast.

I've heard that if you get a mild case the first time it is possible to get them again. I hope he feels better soon.

Teresa in MD

Lynne:

Your son has my sympathies. I caught the chicken pox when I was in college. I was student teaching & caught them from one of the kids in my class. (And to this day, he's probably one of the few kids I still remember . . . vividly. LOL)

How about taking a closeup pic of his arm or back or other body part other than the face that has pox on it? A compromise which is less likely to embarrass him.

Alicia

I heard here just recently where a lot of the OLD diseases are making a comeback, like measles, whooping cough and late pox. Kind scary I think.

Anyhow I remember having them as a kid, the itching and all. Stepmom made a mustard poultice I remember that she put o to relieve the itching.

Hope you can do something besides care for him and worry yourself sick!!! Hope he gets well SOON!

10 for 05

OKC Dave

Lynne...sorry to hear the DS has chicken pox. My DH had them as a child then took them again as an adult, when the children had them. My DD took them a second time when she had just had her baby, contracted in the Maternity Ward. Big problem down below!!!!!! Spots are worst where there is increased blood supply and she also ended up with a breast abscess that needed surgery. Just as well mother's will do anything for their children.....LOL I will leave most of it to your imagination!!!!!

We used Potassium Permanganate to bath in:

It cools the skin, is a cleanser and disinfectant and was a popular treatment for prickly heat in Australia. We then dap the spots with witch hazel (using a cotton bud where necessary), which dries them up really quickly bypassing the oozy stage. I couldn't have managed to take care of DD without this and it had doctor's approval. The important thing is to keep things as dry as possible so the spots scab up! Marilyn

Thanks for the suggestions. I've never heard of Potassium Permanganate, but we do have Witch Hazel. I have him spotted up with Calamine Lotion the pink kind, which is kind of funny. I may have to sneak a photo.

Funny my horoscope said I wasn't going to get much sleep for the next two days so don't bother trying and I thought how ridiculous. 11:30 pm I get woken up by son saying he can't sleep. My first thought was great now we both can't sleep... bad mommy... so he sat on the edge of the bed and then layed down with me and we talked for a while. There really wasn't anything else I could do for him. He had all his meds. Normally I'd rub his back a little, but couldn't do it with all those spots. Poor guy. After about 45 minutes I tucked him back in bed with a cup of ice chips and the fan on really low. He's still asleep now.

Lynne

I'm sorry DS has the chicken pox, Lynne. And to have them right at the end of school, too. Hope he gets to feeling better soon!

It's my understanding (and correct me if I'm wrong) you're contagious before the spots break open, but once they break, you're no longer contagious. I've even heard that you're contagious before the spots even appear so if your child was to infect anyone, he would've done so already.

I hope he's feeling well. Aveeno and Calamine lotion come in real handy at times like this.

You are contagious 72 hours before the spots show, but while you have fresh spots you are contagious too. They all have to be dried up before you are no longer contagious.

Benadryl, Calamine lotion and Motrin are keeping him pretty comfortable. He's supposed to take baking soda bathes, but the 3 times he has gotten very nauseous. I thought it might be the heat and the last 2 times I've kept things tepid. No luck though.

I picked up his school work today and they sent home hardly anything. I am going to email each teacher and say, "Huh?!", because I don't want him to get behind.

Lynne

Lynne, We had a lot of luck with Benedryl because that was what bothered them most. My youngest son was sick (vomitted) with his but the others didn't. I like the clear calamine lotion. I use it a lot on mosquito bites. Mosquitos love me!! LOL

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

a good friend is a life long treasure

Oh okay. I was misinformed. I was really lucky when my kids got Chicken Pox. It was either during Easter Break or during the teacher convention weekend so none of them ever missed any school. The timing was perfect.