Foot, Hand, and Mouth Disease

This childhood virus has always terrified me. Whenever I have heard that some one's kids have this virus, I stay away for at least 2 weeks. The symptoms are sores in and around the mouth, on the hands, and on the feet. Children also get fevers, sore throats, stomach aches, diahrrea, and loss of appetite.

Around Wednesday or Thursday, I noticed Joseph had a bumpy rash around his mouth. Kids get that sort of rash all the time. I thought maybe he ate something he wasn't suppose to. I knew he hadn't tried any new foods. But, I just didn't worry at all. However, Joseph was very irritable, and wouldn't eat so I began giving him tylenol occasionally. Joseph also was waking up crying at night, which we thought was annoying and maybe he was teething.

On Saturday while I was holding and feeling very frustrated with Joseph who had been crying all day, I noticed that Joseph had bumps all over his fingers. I checked out the rest of him and he had the same bumps on his toes. I noticed they were very similar to ones he had around his mouth for days. I looked a little further and noticed that he had a sore on his tongue too. I checked the internet for childhood rashes and nothing seemed right. later, when I was showing John the odd rash on Joseph, it occurred to me that this must be the dreaded hand, foot, and mouth disease.

We looked it up and sure enough the picture of the toddler with spots around the mouth looked exactly like Joseph. So, we diagnosed our own kid. Doctors can't do anything so the end. He should actually be better in a day or two and it really hasn't been all that dreadful. The worst part has been how cranky Joseph is, but he is cranky whenever he feels the least bit ill. This was certainly easier than a high fever, croupe, stomach flu etc. And, it really only affects small children which means Rachel and Anya are the only other kids likely to have any symptoms.