On Monday we went to the spray park and after we got back I noticed wills head was really red, looked sunburnt. I thought it was strange because I had lathered his pasty white skin in SPF 60 and he wore his hat about 80% of the time. Later that evening his eyes started to get really red, as if he had rubbed them really hard and was tired.
On Tuesday he had raised bumps on his arms and a little bit on the body. His head was still red and he had a bit of a fever. He's been cutting molars and eye teeth for the past month, so I assumed this was a new side effect of teething. Levi always rashed with teething, but Will hadn't yet. By Wednesday the rash was getting worse and the fever was on and off.
Thursday I decided to play it safe and go see a dr, Will was pretty miserable and had no appetite. I still was just hoping this was all teething. He was pretty lethargic that day.
We got an appointment with a dr in town, thankfully we haven't needed to see a dr since we've moved, so we don't have a family dr yet. But we got in with Dr.O, and he has a thick African accent. When I showed the nurse the rash she just kind of left. And then when the Dr came in, he didn't touch Will or take any vitals. It seemed strange to me. Of course both boys were being a handful so I could barely hear (or understand the accent) what the DR was telling me. Levi even asked him, why he was speaking in Spanish?? I finally understood that he was telling me he was 98% sure those we're the measles and we needed to go to the children's hospital for blood work. And that Levi would need to come as well to be tested. And we were asked to leave without playing with any of the toys.
Whoah, hold up! I vaccinate my children! I even vaccinated Will early for the measles because of the outbreak in Lethbridge last fall. Needless to say I was kind of mad!
When I got home I called the children's to have them explain more for the protocol. Then I called Dave to give him a heads up, and so he could take a family sick day the next day. (Thank you gov't for those!) Dave was working overtime that day so of course every situation was going through my head. I was panicking because we'd been around so many children that week, and if it's the measles he would have already been contagious for 8 days! The children's hospital had said to wait and come in first thing in the morning on Friday, less patients in the ER.
(This picture doesn't show the rash too well, but you can see his red eyes)
So at 7am we headed to the children's hospital. By Friday Wills whole body was now covered with spots. Thanks to Siri we took a scenic route and finally got their by 8:30am. We got in right away and were put in a special room for those with contagious diseases. The room where people mask and glove up before coming in. After a of couple nurses and a few doctors we figured out it's only a virus... So relieved! And so glad they didn't have to do any blood work, I was so worried about that. Will had to have blood work done when he was 5 days old and I just wept listening to him cry. The nurses and doctors at children's were fantastic!
They gave the boys Popsicles! Since we weren't allowed to leave the room, they did start to get a little stir crazy but both did well! Look how happy he was for that Popsicle!
A week later from the time it all started, the rash is almost gone! The fever and miserableness is still there but we see two teeth coming through. Were so happy it was nothing worse, I hardly slept the night before the hospital and just keep telling myself it could be worse. I could be taking my baby for chemo or surgery.