Caleb Aquires 5th Disease or Parenting is an Education

A few days ago, Caleb mentioned that his throat hurt.  I got out a flashlight and took a look.  It seemed like his tonsils might be slightly bigger than usual, but I wasn't sure because I don't spend a lot of time looking at his healthy tonsils.  He didn't get very sick - a runny nose, no fever, normal activity level - when suddenly he complained that his eyes hurt.  He had red patches around each eye and then a red patch around his mouth.  The patches itched and burned and spread to his ears and shoulders, then his back and tummy.  It all seemed to get worse until yesterday when he didn't notice the itching.  He finally started to be getting better instead of worse, but now his eyes and mouth are chapped and swollen and it seems that all these things are symptoms of Fifth Disease.  Some people call it "Slapped Cheeks Disease" or, my mom said, "The Slaps", but for him it looks more like Punched Face Disease.  He looks awfully sick, but he doesn't feel as bad as he looks.  The chapped, swollen face is pretty painful though.

Although I took him to the doctor, we still scoured the internet learning as much as we could about Fifth Disease - hoping that somewhere it will say that it lasts 3, 4, 5, or so concrete days, but it seems it is a case by case thing and where some people have it so mildly they don't notice it, other people deal with it for weeks or months.  The girls each have a 50% chance of getting it.  (With, I assume, an unknown probability for having the same symptoms) - I thought that means there is a 75% chance of one of them getting it, but the odds are equal that they will not get it, so maybe not.  Statistics is not my specialty.

It's called "Fifth Disease" simply because it was 5th on an old list of skin related diseases (measles and rubella were on the same list).  According to (insert random medical website here or Wikipedia) most adults have already had it and are immune, even if they don't remember having had it.  However, adults and teens that contract it usually don't get the rashes, instead they get joint pain - joint pain that may last for months.  Parenting is a non-stop education!  A regular college course!

His illness coincided with a visit from my brother - but it didn't keep us in too much.  Caleb went with us to the zoo, the movies and the marina. 

Here is a picture from last Wednesday - he was already starting to notice some of the initial symptoms.  The red patches showed up the next day.

So...he was supposed to start swimming lessons tomorrow, but unless he unexpectedly clears up dramatically overnight, that is not going to happen!