The Skin(?) That Cried Wolf

So, apparently Monday has become "Go See Dr. Freeman Day" at the Gropp household.

Adele has had a fever since at least Saturday, and last night, Bapa (who had been visiting) thought Adele had a rash on her belly. 'Well, that's hardly new' is what I thought to myself as I checked her belly...which was mildly rashy, but had been for quite some time (or at least since Saturday, when she scratched it enough to bleed on her dress....)

Since her fever was so high (between 101 and 104.5) and using both motrin and tylenol didn't bring it below 100, I decided it was time to take her in...but I called the nurse line instead of making an appointment right away just in case, you know, to be sure I wasn't turning into the kind of parent who cried wolf and took her kids to the doctor once a week...

When I relayed her symptoms to the nurse (fever, cough, difficulties breathing) she said something like, "well, this is definitely one of those times we want you to bring her in", but I wasn't convinced there would be anything to do for Adele except to wait out the fever. I hadn't even given her any motrin until she'd had the fever for several hours and it was at something like 102, figuring that I should just let nature take its course.

So, anyhow, we got to the doctor, and Nurse Michelle was talking with me, then looked at Adele and asked, "were you going to tell me about her rash?" I replied that Adele *always* has a rash, but remembered that Bapa had said something about it as well.

When Dr. Freeman came in, we talked about her symptoms for a while, and once again, I forgot to mention the rash (seriously, we all know that the kid gets a rash if you even look at her the wrong way...) Fortunately I caught a glimpse of Adele scratching her wrist and remembered to tell Dr. F about the rash, and when we lifted up her shirt, Adele had the reddest, most awful looking rash I had ever seen before. The rest of her "eczema ridden" areas had gotten progressively worse over the weekend, but her belly hadn't looked that awful even a few hours earlier while we got dressed.

While inspecting the rash, Dr. Freeman asked Adele if she had a sore throat, and Adele instantly replied that she did. (which explains why she hasn't eaten anything all weekend, even though she will beg for food...she takes a bite and is done...poor girl!) Mom of the year, here didn't even think to ask Adele if anything hurt. My bad.

Instantly, Dr. Freeman called it Scarlatina, which is more commonly known as scarlet fever. Seriously....I used to do so much research on rashes that I felt dumb for not knowing this time...but then again, I stopped even noticing Adele's rashes since she's always covered in them. But, come on, Scarlet Fever...really?!

We got some generic, yet very expensive antibiotics (that the pharmacist said I will "absolutely love" because they are "a class above amoxicillin") that should have Ellie feeling back to normal in 24 hours.

So, while most of me feels like I should fill out my application for "Worst Mommy of the Century" and stock up on postage to return all of the Mother's Day gifts I just know the girls have ordered for me ...(I mean, come on, I never even asked Adele if her throat hurt when she hadn't eaten anything substantial in days---I thought she was just holding out for the sugar-laden gogurt "treats") The other part of me wants to teach Adele's skin about the boy who cried wolf so that I won't ignore her next rash!