chicken pox diary - Day 3

Since the last entry I have:

- Taken pooky bear to the hospital Sat night to discover that it was a good thing we did. The erythromycin was not working effectively due to the nauseating side effects. This resulted in the sores expanding in size. A pediatrician prescribed new antibiotics including a stronger antibiotic ointment. The Dr left us his number and advised us to call if there were any changes we were concerned about. We were very fortunate to avoid IV antibiotics.

Note - Biaxin is a part of the erythromycin family. However, it has been developed to be easier on the stomach, specifically for children. It is a pricy drug, however worth every penny. Some plans cover it (like my husband's), however, the Saskatchewan provincial government will only cover it after submitting a claim for it. You must pay the $80.00 then reimbursed for it later.

- Made approximately 10 snowflakes for the E.R. while waiting to see the pediatrician. My husband and I kept "one-up'ing" each other with our snowflake making abilities. Pooky bear thought it was great. I was so happy I brought scissors, and books to occupy us.

- Discovered that Micheal Martchenko, the illustrator for Robert Munsch books, likes to put taradactol dactyls in every book. The taradactol is hiding and is not found on every page. We are thinking that the older Robert Munsch he has mice hiding in the pages, and in the newer Robert Munsch books, they are taradactols. My suggestion is to read "More Pies" and you will see what I mean.

-Realized the only way to get Pooky bear to have the antibiotic ointment on her is to have her hold my hand and squeeze. Let me tell you, she has a strong grip! She thinks it is actually funny to have me react as though she is hurting me. She completely forgets about the cream.

- Witnessed her daughter not crying for missing a Christmas party today. I was sure she was going to be upset, so my husband and I did our best to make her understand why she could not go and her little sister could. Our efforts paid off, and she was thrilled to have her little sister come home and give her a gift.


After all of this. I am happy my youngest has had the chicken pox vaccination. I am a little frustrated with the Sask health for not covering the cost of the vaccination when it first came out when Pooky was a baby. I do remember when the vaccination first became available for a cost, there were many Dr's, including ours, who did not agree with the vaccination. This, also could have been prevented with the proper material eduating the Dr's on the risk of chicken pox. From my understanding, it was the pediatrician's of Saskatchewan that helped the chicken pox vaccination become covered by Sask health. If only they would have been helping to educate G.P's about the risks as well.

Oh well, what's done is done. I feel very blessed that Pooky is on the road to recovery, finally. God was definately watching over our pooky bear, and that makes me VERY thankful! Our prayers are answered.

chicken pox diary - hour 48

Since the last diary entry, Pooky bear has been through a lot. Her first night (hours 8-18) was rough on her. She woke up repeatedly because she was in so much pain and itched at the same time. Her pox were scratched so much the night we didn't know she had them, that she had huge scabs where the pox were. By hour 18, the sores were red, very large and irritated. She still had normal chicken pox, but also had these sores (about 10 of them).

Being concerned about the chicken pox, I had plans to take Pooky with me to my Dr's app't. By our 19, I slept in and nearly missed my appointment. Pooky quickly reminded me that she was to come with me to my appointment. We both quickly got dressed and headed out the door. At the appointment, the Dr. explained that the sores were actually chicken pox which became infected. What actually happened was the first night Pooky bear became itchy on her neck, she scratched so hard it became a big infected scab. Then when the chicken pox spreaded, she would scratch her neck, then other chicken pox, therefore infecting them as well.

I felt so bad for Pooky bear and wished there was something I could have done. I did tell the Dr. I had been putting polysporin on all of the scabs. The Dr commented that is why her infection did not spread to flesh eating disease. This made me feel a lot better, knowing that my instinct to put polysporin on the sores helped Pooky.

Putting on the polysporin has not been the easiest task. She finds it very painful because of the sores. My husband and I had to both put on the polysporin on her at the same time to speed up the process. (Note - It definately helps to give acetometaphen 1 hour before hand to help with the pain) Once the polysporin was on the pain was gone and the itchiness.

She is now on antibiotics for the infection, benadryl for the inflamation and irritation, acetometaphen for the pain and polysporin. So far, this winning combination is helping combat the chicken pox and infection. She is feeling much better. Her and little monkey have been playing and getting ready to put up the Christmas tree. She is not out of the woods yet, but is 80% better than even last night.

Lessons learnt in the last 48 hours:

- teach pooky bear to call us even if she does not feel it is neccessary

- excess scratching leads to infection, which if not treated quickly can lead to flesh eating disease

- difference between reactine and benadryl: reactine - great for prevention
benadryl - great for treatment

- combination of reactine once a day and benadryl every 6 hours helps with further break out and treatment of the chicken pox. (note- I understand that chicken pox is not an allergy, but the medications used to treat allergies also help in the treatment of chicken pox. This does not mean the reactine and benadryl can prevent chicken pox, but help once chicken pox has appeared)

- erythromycin is hard on the stomach, so giving her the acetometaphen and benadryl and food 1 hour before ensures all medication will remain in her stomach and not be lost in a possible upset stomach loosing all contents. It is still important to take the medication with food as well.
My routine 1 hour before antibiotics: administer benadryl, 1/2 hour before antibiotics: administer acetometaphen. This has helped huge with pooky bear. It is important to note we did not discover this technique until hour 36.

chicken pox diary - hour 5

Pooky bear is doing surprisingly well right now. I failed to mention in the previous post that I gave her 24 hour relief children's Reactine, to help bring down the swelling and itchiness, which has proven to help. I also have been using polysporin on the spots with scabs to help speed the healing process and scaring. Acetaminophen has also come in handy to reduce fever, because the chicken pox has the tendency to appear in warmer places on the body, so reducing fever is a good thing.

So, so far we are surviving. She is happy playing on the computer, watching TV and visiting with friends. I am tempted to think that she is actually going to enjoy having the chicken pox, minus the fact she is upset she will miss ballet lessons.

chicken pox diary - hour 1

Pooky bear finaly has the chicken pox. I first discovered it when she was changing for school. She was complaining her tummy was itchy, my first instinct was her eczema, but the little red dots all over her belly proved me wrong. She was not a happy camper to find out she would miss school today, but was quickly calmed with the idea of lots of oatmeal baths and computer time.

I have been hoping she would get them soon, I was beginning to wonder if she had immunity given she had been exposed at least two times to chicken pox. But now that she has them, I know her days will be filled with what ever makes her: A. happy and B. not itch.

My mom quickly helped me out with the traditional home remedies, which so far has proven to not work. She first recomended calmine lotion (unsure of spelling), this in the first 30 minutes of discovering she has chicken pox, did not help. She then advised me to make a paste of baking soda and water, I tried this after the calamine lotion. The baking soda and water made her cry. So, I did what I know works on itchy, irritated, eczema: oatmeal bath.

She right now is lying in the water, which in the first 45 minutes of discovering the chicken pox, is helping. Now I just need to figure out a way to stop the itch while out of the tub. Hmm, oatmeal paste??? Messy, but maybe worth a try.