On Sunday morning Ajax woke up at 7 am and we noticed he had a few red blotches/hives on his face. He said they didn’t hurt, but as the morning went on we noticed a prickly rash break out over his chest, stomach, back and arms (with large red spots on his forearms). We then watched as he ears began to swell and his face became redder. Dave and I got dressed and by 10 am we were out the door for the Urgent Care. Luckily Dara had stayed the night and was able to stay home with Noomi. We went to the Urgent Care in Okemos because it was the closest to our home.
Ajax now weighs in at a whopping 34.2 lbs. The PA checked his air passage and lungs and Ajax said he wasn’t in any pain. They did a swab of his throat which came back negative for strep. The PA then said it was most likely measles. Dave and I both did a double take and said, WHAT? Yes, the PA said, measles, nothing to be worried about etc. The PA recommended blood work to confirm the diagnosis. Neither Dave nor I wanted that, but we had just had a birthday party the day before with a bunch of little kids and if it was measles we had a lot of phone calls to make. So we reluctantly agreed. This was of course the wrong decision as the nurse had clearly never drawn blood from a child and the whole incident left Ajax, myself, and the nurse in tears. To top it they didn’t get enough blood and gave us a script for blood work.
We left the Urgent Care and went straight to Sparrow Hospital for a second opinion (our level of concern at this point being fairly high). We met with a wonderful Peds Doctor who said, no not measles, and most likely not an allergy. Most likely a viral rash, and virus symptoms would probably follow (runny nose, sore throat, etc). They then gave us referrals to Urgent Cares in the area that specialized in peds. Overall, this was our entire day as we did not get home until 3 pm. Ajax was exhausted and irritable and annoyed and just wanted to ride his new bike and play with his new toys. Dave and I were cursing the PA and the poor diagnosis (when we were at the Urgent Care, Dave texted Dara who immediately said, he does not have measles).
We picked up a late lunch on the way home and after eating took Ajax on a bike ride around the neighborhood. Which he loved. He ended his day after I tucked him in, saying he had a great day. I did not argue with him, but it didn’t look so great from my end. Poor little guy.
