I’m so glad they have at all the websites:  “Although it may look alarming, the roseola rash is not dangerous and merely signals the end of the illness”.

Because oh my fucking LORD is it alarming.

Meanwhile, for those of you who have preschoolers who may have one of the billion illnesses going around right now, www.starfall.com has saved my bacon during this impromptu “vacation”.

Very family/kid perfect.  Check it out!

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Last night Wallace had a bath and I noticed some strange hives around his belly and his neck.  This morning he doesn’t have a fever, but his face is all puffed up and he doesn’t look good.  He had a small fever last night at 11:00pm, got some meds and slept through.

An intrepid internet friend suggested that Wallace has Roseola:

Roseola (also known as sixth disease, exanthem subitum, and roseola infantum) is a viral illness in young children, most commonly affecting those between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. It is typically marked by several days of high fever, followed by a distinctive rash just as the fever breaks.

A child with roseola typically develops a mild upper respiratory illness, followed by a high fever (often over 103° Fahrenheit, or 39.5° Celsius) for up to a week. During this time, the child may appear fussy or irritable and may have a decreased appetite and swollen lymph nodes (glands) in the neck.

DING DING DING DING!

And BLECH.

The good news is that we did all we could, it’s a virus so antibiotics wouldn’t have helped at all, and that the worst is over by the time the rash appears.  No school today, but we’ll see how tomorrow goes.

It’s always less scary when it’s something known and not just some sort of generalized high fever.

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So, hi!  It’s been all about the flu here, hunh?

Of course, other things have been going on, it’s just hard to think about other stuff when you have a kid with a five fever.

One of the things that have been going on is a grand experiment.  Shortly after Christmas I noticed a trend; when I missed a dose of the Cymbalta, the next morning I woke up in a fine mood, but when I took it the night before I woke up depressed and it just got worse from there.

That time was so fraught, though, that I thought that I might be making it up.  One of the differences between Paxil and the Cymbalta is that the Cymbalta has such a short half-life, so rather than the Paxil which builds in the blood stream, you feel the Cymbalta immediately and it’s faded quite a bit before you take the next one.  On the Paxil if you have an up day or a down day, it generally can’t be attributed to missing one pill, but the Cymbalta can react in the body that quickly.

Over the past month I’ve conducted a series of tests, one day on and one day off, two days on and two days off; without fail a nightime Cymbalta lead to a deep, unshakable depressive state while no Cymbalta lead to a completely neutral morning and a day where I reacted to life, rather than coming at it already moody.

So five days ago I left the Cymbalta behind. 

I’m not saying I don’t need to be on something, but I don’t need to be on that.

There are people who respond to antihistamines by getting all hyped and wired, and apparently I respond to this particular antidepressant by becoming horribly depressed.

Fun!

In addition to not being horribly depressed I’m also enjoying life.  I’m crying and laughing and feeeeeling and wanting and smiling and living.  The color is back in life.

Thank God.

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Yeah.

Wallace just woke me up after a four hour nap and I could go to bed for another billion years.  My head is hot and I’m sneezing and my ears hurt.

Nertz.

Meanwhile, the baby boy is on the rebound.  We had a night with no spiked fever!  While his temp seems to climb a little before the next dosage, I still feel okay going back to the Motrin every four hours approach.  He appears to be on the mend.

He’s also gone from adorable to surly as hell, a sure sign of recovery!

Me, I feel like crap.  Which is sad because I was doing so well with excercise and in one fell swoop it’s all been curtailed.  I don’t want to be curtailed, I want to be thin.

Now pardon me, I’m going to have a shower, because the smell in this house, it could kill you.

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We just got back from the doctor’s office.  I’m so proud of Wallace.  He did such an incredible job.  This is how the initial conversation went between Wallace and the doctor:

Wallace:  I’n very sick.

Doctor: I see.  You’re very sick.  What parts of you are sick?  Are you sick in your ears?

W: Yes.

Doctor: Okay, are you sick in your eyes?

W: No.

Doctor: Are you sick in your throat?

W: Yes.

D: Are you sick in your tummy?

W: No.

D: Have you had a fever?

W: Yes.

D: Was it a high fever, or a low fever?

Wallace *solemnly*: It was a five fever.

Doctor: A five fever! That’s a pretty bad fever.

W: Yes.

So she did a rapid strep test that came up negative, but she said while his ears look okay, his throat is very red.  So he’s got a bad flu and has to stay home the rest of the week.  For the next 24 hours he’s on the Tylanol/Motrin switch every two hours to stay on top of the fever.

So Wallace is on the couch, and we are watching Milo and Otis.  Again.

I’m just glad it looks like he’s going to be okay.

Oh, and just in case you thought he wasn’t cute enough, he told his dad and I that he felt “mistable” today.

Poor mistable bubba.

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I asked Wallace if he wanted to play with his trains while I got lunch ready and he said, “No, I think I want to go to bed.”

He’s in his room with his sleep music playing, absolutely silent.

We’re SO going to the doctor.

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We had another night of 104+, mad scramble to try and get it down to something a little less HOLY SHIT. And I did.  At 102 it was merely holy shit.

Meanwhile, I’m feeling like I was hit by a truck, so we both stayed home today.

I have stuff to tell you, but right now I have a lap full of kid and I’m working from home, so I just promise to tell you soon, okay?

 xoxo *sneezles*

KP

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Wallace woke up at 2:00am and called for me in a thin, reedy voice.  I got to his room and his temp was 104+.  I called the doctor and argued with my instinct to take him into the ER.  I think I would have just taken him, except there are some nasty bugs going around hospitals these days and I don’t want to take him in for just a bad flu and wind up with him catching something life-threatening.

I mean, durh.

So with a simultaneous dose of Motrin and Tylanol his temps came down to about 101, which was a hell of a lot less scary.

He’s sitting in front of Curious George right now calling for me, so I’m going to go do that.

Poor little bubs.

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In fun news, MoVo and I hit the town on Saturday night and I rolled home at about 5:30am.  HAH!  Out all night!  Like a stupid teenager!

Man, I’d forgotten how much I really enjoyed that lifestyle.  I can’t keep it up anymore for a thousand reasons, but Mo and I had a BLAST and I totally remember why we used to do that six nights a week.  Who needs sleep when there’s fun to be had?!

Of course, I slept ALL DAY today. 

It was wonderful.

In BOO news, Wallace has a fever that was 102, almost 103 tonight.  He’s dosed up and sleeping now, but I’m sitting here like a nervous cat listening for the sound of an impending febral seizure.  Of course, I have no idea what a febral seizure sounds like when it’s impending, but I’m sure if I get tense enough there will be this sort of cosmic vibration to let me know.  Right?  RIGHT?

It’s a working from home day tomorrow.

I’m so going to get fired.

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The Poopyhands Weightloss Junction is up and running again.

I won’t post here every time something is posted there, but after six months of near-radio-silence, I thought there should be some minor fanfare.

So please go, visit and comment so that I keep up with it.  Talking to you, my darling Peeps, is the only thing that keeps me reaching for the chocolate cake.

xoxox

KP

Poopyhands Weightloss Junction Now Open for Business

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