Antibiotics

Laurel seems to be coming down with a summer cold, and her runny nose reminded me that I forgot to blog about something. Well, first of all we are fortunate that she has never been very sick, and that she has never needed to take antibiotics. Isaac has been almost as lucky, and he has only had to take antibiotics on one occasion two years ago.

Until last month, that is! In the middle of June we were visiting my parents when Isaac became ill. (As I've noted before, my parents' house is a prime location for getting sick. Why is that?) Even before our visit started, Isaac was very tired; for several days he yawned a lot and didn't play as vigorously as usual. His appetite was diminished, he had a very slight fever, and then one evening his torso broke out in a rash. He still didn't seem that sick, but when I saw the rash I realized something strange was happening. Despite Isaac's protests that his throat did not hurt, I finally got a flashlight and took a look. Sure enough, it was red and swollen.

Sore throat, fever, sandpapery rash, but no cough or congestion? My Internet diagnosis skills told me it was scarlet fever, and I was right! It sounds alarming, but thanks to modern medicine it is not usually a big deal. It's just a dramatic name for a strep throat infection that includes a rash.

So the next day we went to the nice urgent care clinic in my parents' town, the doctor swabbed Isaac's throat and did a rapid strep test, and then we picked up some antibiotics. Isaac felt better immediately.

We're planning another visit to see my parents in a few days. I wonder what illness will develop then?