Strep Throat

Yuck! Not that I have a “favorite” illness, but I have to say, of all the illnesses I have experienced in my life, strep is probably the worst. It seemed that the mere utterance of the words “strep throat” would send my immune system into a frenzy. Every time it went around, I would end up in the doctor’s office with my mom, with a stick down my throat. And just about every time, the doctor would say “well, she doesn’t have a fever, I don’t think it’s strep.” Thank goodness my mom knew better. She would almost always keep me home so as not to worsen my condition and to try and contain the virus for the sake of the other kids at school. Back in the day, it would take about 2-3 days before we would receive the results of the strep culture, therefore 2-3 days without antibiotics, and 2-3 days more of the wonderful throat pain that is associated with strep. Now-a-days, one can visit the doctor, and before leaving the office have a test result and a prescription in hand.

Now, you may be wondering why I’m bothering with this post. Well, last Saturday, Nicky developed a bit of a cough. No big deal at the time, the weather had changed yet again, and Nicky’s allergies were bothering him. So I broke out the Benadryl to try and tame the runny nose, etc. By Tuesday, the cough had become a little more persistent, but so had the allergy situation in the “Big D” and several other kids at school were experiencing the same symptoms, so we figured he might have a bit of a cold. We didn’t want to be those parents; the ones that rush their kid to the doctor at the first sign of the sniffles, so we just kept an eye on him. Well, that line of thought quickly changed when Wednesday morning presented itself with quite the symptom – Nicky’s left eye was almost completely swollen shut & puffy, it was bright red and after pulling his shirt over his head he said “eye owie!” and began to cry uncontrollably. I realized that this situation was a bit more serious that at first glance and Kris took him to the “sick clinic” at our doctor’s office that morning. Sure enough, upon inspection of Nicky’s throat, the doctor announced that Nicky had strep. Imagine our surprise! He didn’t have a fever and he never said “throat owie!” of course, he may not know that word yet, but he definitely knows neck and he knows how to “show me” (that’s what I ask of him when I don’t understand what he’s trying to tell me). Having a “funky” eye is usually not a good thing, however, in this scenario, we’re thankful for the outward symptom, especially with a deadly strain of strep lurking around.

I’m happy to announce that Nicky is doing much better. Of course, he acted normal throughout the whole ordeal. Crazy – I have a fever of 100 degrees and I’m out for the count. A 2 ½ year old has strep and it’s business as usual! Man, I’d love to have that stamina again! I’d also like to point out the fact that like his momma, Nicky didn’t run a fever the whole time. It’s funny how many similarities there are between the three of us – both health and personality speaking. He’s more and more our son every day!