Daddy has chickenpox

As stated earlier this week, the Easter bunny was very kind and brought T lots of chocolate and fun for Easter. For me, however the Easter bunny was rather mean and nasty and instead of bringing all things good, it brought me what I had been dreading for a long time, "chickenpox".
It all started on Good Friday when I woke up feeling slightly feverish. I didn't think anything of it of course and after a quick dose of paracetamol, I was soon back to feeling well again. Saturday was pretty much the same; we had a lot of plans then and other than a slight headache when I woke up, the day passed without much discomfort or issues as we went about our business. Fast forward to Monday and I woke up feeling very sick indeed. My head and joints ached, I felt sapped of energy, and I noticed the lymph nodes beneath both ears at my chin were swollen. We had plans I had been looking forward to on the day however something told me I had to rest and stay indoors so I listened to my head and stayed home. By Monday evening, I noticed that my whole scalp felt inflamed and there was a tiny red bump on my left shoulder blade. That was when it hit me that I may have chickenpox. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, what was one tiny red bump had multiplied and my back, abdomen, chest and entire head was covered in little pus filled bumps. By Tuesday evening, I was feeling very itchy and uncomfortable, and I just wanted to grab a blade and scrape off my entire head of hair because I just kept getting this wave of painful sensation that went around my head in a circle as if someone was hammering hundred of needles down each hair follicle in procession. The Doctor who I had called earlier for advise came over, gave me an examination, confirmed I had chickenpox and put me on a prescription of antibiotics so as to limit any complications arising from my infection. Overnight I realized I could not lay my head down to sleep because regardless which way I tried; the pressure exerted by me pressing my head against my hands or on a pillow was just totally unbearable. Wednesday was the worst. Every inch of my upper body was itchy, I had a massive fever, I was exhausted and I just felt totally horrible and dirty every time I looked in the mirror. At one point I became fixated on the time and sat there looking at the clock as it ticked wishing I had the power to will time by so I did not have to go through the discomfort I was experiencing. By mid afternoon, I had reached a low point so I draped a blanket over my head and started to rock back and forth telling myself I have survived worse and this too shall soon pass. When it was bedtime, I barred myself to the living room sofa knowing sleeping in the bedroom will mean keeping the entire household awake. I was right because I did not sleep a wink that night.
It is Saturday morning now and I am feeling more energized and much better on my way to recovery. All my bumps have scabbed over and some are actually starting to fall off. The itch though as much as I would like it to stop has not stopped completely and I find myself struggling not to submit and itch here and there. Just gross!

Moving on swiftly, as much as I had dreaded being infected with chickenpox, I am also glad that between T and I (my other half is immune and has been looking after T this entire period), I got infected first and it was not the other way. So far T is showing no symptoms and that is very surprising considering he has been around me the whole time and I have an inkling we were both exposed when I became infected. Anyway that is unimportant now and what matters is that when and if he gets infected, I will be ready knowing what it feels like and what remedies to use to help him ease the discomfort. Speaking of remedies, I found Calamine lotion absolutely useless and after two days of using it and being fed up with its ineffectiveness and messiness, I switched to another product called, 'Eurex', which was recommended by T's godmother and found it generally more effective. I also tried soaking myself in a bath of 'Dead Sea Spa Magik salt', as recommended by the many users of Netmums, although I am not exactly sure if it had any real effect or not. I did feel amazing immediately after having the bath but if that is down to some placebo effect or not, I do not know and will not comment further LOL!

Consequently, in the past when people had spoken about chickenpox I have often wondered if it really is as nasty as they have described it. Now that it has happened to me, I believe it is. I have been ill too many times in the past to remember every episode bar a few but I will certainly remember this for sure. The level of discomfort and helplessness I felt was just too great to forget and I am glad it is a once in a lifetime type of infection phew! Now if this dark spots on my face can just all disappear immediately. Boy recovery is still a long way yet.

Happy Easter

Hope the Easter Bunny was kind to you and yours. T requested and got for himself a monstrous amount of treats and chocolates! Cannot wait to do it again next year.

Knee trouble equals afternoon spent in A&E

T has been complaining on and off for a while now about pain in his right knee. So when on the way to the park today he suddenly stopped riding his scooter and started limping and complaining about this same knee, I had no option but to head to A&E. The change of destination did not go down well of course; he threw a massive tantrum when he learned we were heading to the hospital instead of the park and I had to scoop him up and bribe him with a lollipop in order to have his compliance and cooperation.
Upon reaching the hospital, we were called to see a pediatrician within 5 minutes of signing-in which was pretty impressive. After a thorough examination by a doctor and an x-ray of his hip and knee, I was instructed he had no fractures and the pain might just be as a result of a sore ligament or muscle fatigue brought upon by boisterous play and tiredness. Nevertheless as a precaution they sent us away with some paracetamol and ibuprofen and told us to come back next week for a routine follow-up. When it was time to leave, T turned to the doctor and asked if he could stay in the hospital to get more x-ray. From not wanting to go to the hospital, he now wanted to stay. I was like, em no thanks! I think I'll prefer us going home and never coming back in a long time. I sure hope he does not go and do something now so he can go back to the hospital LOL!
Consequently I have to say being my second time with him at A&E that I was as impressed this time around as I was the first time. Overall we were there for about 2.5 hours which is way shorter than I had expected and budgeted for. So when I come across people moaning and complaining about the NHS, I wonder if I am just lucky or perhaps less fussy because I only have good things to say about it. Of course the NHS is not perfect but I am grateful for it and all the wonderful people within it that do such amazing jobs in a very difficult and demanding environment.

A huge lesson

On our way to meet a friend, T and I stopped over at a playground to play. We hadn't been there 10 minutes when this lady and her daughter walked in and instantly some "Mompetition" ensued. For those who are not in the know, the urban dictionary defines "Mompetition" as the one-up rivalry Mums (who are seen as primary givers) play in order to make their children seem better, smarter, and/or more advanced than your child. Anyway back to this lady and her daughter: everything T did, the little girl with mum urging her on did. She was faster taking turns on the slide and was happy to shout about it with mum applauding, and when they played on the carousel she had a good laugh about how terrified T was and how she wasn't when it was spinning really fast. We went on the swing and there she was on the next swing. T started to sing and of course so did she, only louder. When T asked to go higher, she also requested that her mum pushed her higher. Mum of course pushed so hard I thought her daughter might fall out of the swing at any minute. Wanting to shake the irritating duo off, T and I headed to the jungle gym in a different part of the playground but to our annoyance they weren't too far behind. The jungle gym had different levels of difficulty so I followed T and kept instructing him to hold on and pay attention as he made his way along. Little Miss duplicator soon caught up of course, I mean she is only about year or two older and as a result was quicker. I watched as she shoved T out of the way, raced past him, completed the course and then embarked on it again. Moments later she reached a portion of the course that involved crossing via a narrow piece of rectangular wooden log. Intent on catching up with T again so she could show him up, she was going quite fast and was looking right ahead at us instead of at the obstacle in front of her. Suddenly she tripped and fell. She let out a loud painful scream as she landed hard on the wooden log and was only saved from falling off completely by the safety ropes that were tied into a mesh on both sides of the wooden log. I could only watch in horror as Mum came to her aid clearly distressed and filled with pity. She picked her up and they both walked off nursing her bruised elbow and ego. When I saw them leaving the park, I was tempted to run after them and ask if the daughter was alright but I had my own child who was still on the jungle gym to look after plus I had just won a game of "Mompetition" so I just looked on and hoped both mother and child had learned their lesson.

When T grows older, I will tell him this story and the moral of it being worry less about what others are doing and focus on what you are doing for you could end up loosing all that you have worked hard for trying to keep up with others if you do not keep up with your own self. 

Stencil magic

T and I went out to Hobbycraft last week and soon as he saw this alphabet, numbers and symbols stencil, he wanted it. Thinking he wouldn't have any use for it, I refused to buy it at first but he nagged me until I relented and bought it. I am so glad I did because copying it in and then announcing to the whole house that he can write numbers and alphabets is now his favorite thing to do in the morning.

Children and their toys: A toy story

Here is a fascinating piece about children across the world and their favourite collection of toys. When I read that the photographer had said based on his observations that the richest children were more possessive compared to children in poorer countries who even if they only had two or three toys didn't really care, I couldn't help but nod in agreement.