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