Thursday, November 4, 2010

Chicken Pox ~ Part One

Two weeks after the Thanksgiving weddings, John got up one morning not feeling very well. Mom soon saw that he was running a fever and there were a few suspicious looking spot on his face and arms. After inspecting them a little closer she announced that John has the chicken pox.

After converting our sofa into a bed she got everything fixed up in the living room and sent John to bed. For a few days John was very sick, covered in pox and feverish Mom spent most of her time trying to make him as comfortable as possible and coaxed as much liquids in him as she could. By the end of the first week his fever was gone and he now he had to deal with trying not to itch. My usually good natured easy going brother was anything but good natured. Bored to the uttermost he lay in the bed grumbling and complaining until I felt like making him sit outside in the snow for a while.

Mom didn't want him to read while he was sick so I had to spend several hours everyday sitting next to his bed and read to him. I was glad that the end of his two weeks in bed was coming and he could go back to his usual activities, but before Mom released him from his confinement David started with the pox and another cycle started.

I was afraid I would start with them too but day after day passed and I was still healthy so I started to assume I probably was immune to them. As David neared the end of his two weeks Ivan and Raymond both broke out. The living room felt crowded with three sick people filling it and Mom spent all day trying to soothe her sick children.

Another big snow storm went through piling several feet of snow on the ground. David wanted to go sledding more than anything else but Mom and Daddy were concerned that he should stay inside until his two weeks were up. David kept going from window to window and talk about how great it would be to have at least one sled ride, that he really didn't feel sick any longer.

Finally Mom and Daddy agreed that if he dressed really warmly he could go take one ride but then he would have to come in right away. Happy to have permission David went outside and took his sled ride. Coming back inside his face looked a little more pained and he went to lay down. Mom asked him what was wrong and he told her his stomach hurts. She gave him something and we all went to bed.

The next morning David was really sick Mom tried to get him to drink liquids but nothing wanted to stay down and the pain in his stomach was excruciating. By afternoon they decided it was time to take him to the emergency room to see what was wrong.

To be continued

7 comments:

  1. Ohhhhh And I am going to be out of town tomorrow. I will have to tell hubby he can take his laptop with us, and maybe he will share. lolol Your poor momma!
    until next time... nel

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember when my sister and I were sick we always got to spend the days on the living room sofa made into a bed sheets and all. Books, coloring books, paper crayons, bell to ring for service, tissues, etc. on coffee table. We would return to our beds at night. During the day the bed was aired out with windows wide open and door closed to the room. Guess it was to rid the room of germs but living room was not aired out during the night...guess germs didn't survive in the living room LOL...

    Only time I got to stay in my bed when measles as had to be in a dark room to protect the eyes. Blinds pulled tight, lights off, doors closed. And when I had Mono in college over Christmas break...

    I feel for your mother doing her housework while caring for sick children and you having to entertain them.

    Did he have appendicitis?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can see appendicitis, too ... maybe ... probably absolutely nothing to do with going outside in the cold air. I can also see me yanking the comptuer away from my husband as soon as I get home from work tomorrow!!

    Your poor mom ... I had my three boys with chicken pox one after the other one whole summer with about 1 week in between each. Ugh. A summer to remember.

    See you tomorrow? Hope so!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My mum, when we were kids in the 50's, used to always make sure that if one got it we all did! There were 3 of us and never mind getting comfy cosy in the living room - no, we had to stay upstairs but as my sis and I shared a room at least there was someone to talk to. The only exception to the "one out all out" rule was when I caught scarlet fever. Ths was a "notifiable disease" and the authorities became involved because you had to have the sickroom fumigated when you were deemed no longer infectious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I always wonder what kind of books you read. What did you read to your brother? What did you like to read? Maybe this could be a topic for another day. :-)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.