So Young Now...

THIS... IS ...WAR
OK, strep throat. You've hit us all once (except Max, who is still going strong and fighting that nasty little bug!) and now....you've invaded Nicole a SECOND TIME!?? I don't think so. Apparently we were a little too nice around here, but no, you cannot stay! My poor little girl woke up feeling pretty poorly today, and started to get a rash, with a minor complaint of dry throat. The rash was enough that we took her to the doctor. He took one look at her throat and said "strep throat for sure!" I said, "how can that be??? She just got over it....and I am just getting over it." Apparently this nasty little bug can come back again and stay in the family for a while, before leaving for good. I probably got it from Nicole or Kurt, and now Nicole probably got it from me again!! So, Nicole missed her first official cheerleading game today. And the family missed a fun night out at a friend's house tonight! THIS....IS....WRONG! Here are a few finer points for any of you facing the strep bug: it lives on inanimate surfaces for a very short period of time, so while washing sheets and clothes and dishes is always good, that's not how it is primarily spread. The singlemost thing you can do for prevention is WASH your hands! You also need to CHANGE your toothbrush about 3-5 days after you start antibiotics. Of course, don't share utensils and dishes and eat off each others' plates and all of those wonderful things. But here's the kicker, we have done ALL of that, and Nicole still got it a second time! The good news is that once you have been on antibiotics for 24 hours, you are supposedly no longer contagious. The bad news, the incubation period can be up to 10 days (i.e. it can be in your body for 10 days before you get symptoms!)! I am going to fight, fight, fight to make sure no one gets this again. And I don't know what's going on with Max, but he has slept next to Nicole when we didn't know she had strep; he has eaten off her plate before we could remind him not to; he has breathed her air and touched all her toys, and done everything that would make any other human being contract this bug, but so far he as been our anti-strep superhero! So we will fight for another 10 days to ensure this nasty little strep bug doesn't take down anyone else. So far, not a very good start to 2009 in the Dungan house, but we all know that it can always be worse, so we are still counting our blessings!

In the meantime, there is a nasty stomach virus going around that has touched almost everyone around us. I can only cross my fingers and hope it doesn't pay a visit to our house!