Sick.

On Wednesday September 8th, Parker broke out in a rash that started on his thighs. The next day it had spread and it covered his body from the neck down. That evening he started running a fever. By Friday morning the rash covered his whole body and his lips and the skin around his lips started peeling off.

I had called the doctor on Thursday morning, but since he wasn't running a fever and the rash was not bothering him, we assumed it was probably an allergy rash. But, by Friday my "mom instinct" was telling me this was no allergy rash.

We headed to the doctor.

They did a strep test, it came back negative.

The doctor determined that Parker had Scarlatina. Which is just a fancy word for Scarlat Fever.

He was put on an antibiotic and we all felt confident that he would recover in the next few days.

Unfortunately, things progressively got worse. Not only did the rash get worse, but it started blistering. Then on Friday late afternoon Parker had a mild seizure and started hallucinating. It was very scary. He was screaming, "Take me quickly, I just want to go quickly." Then he would pass out and then he would wake again screaming.

He had 3 episodes of hallucinating.

The doctor informed us that the Scarlat Fever was more advanced then he had thought and hallucinating can occur. We are assuming the seizure was from his high fever and the pain that his body was going through. Scarlat Fever makes your whole body ache with pain.

We were able to control his fever and luckily he did not have any more seizures.

Then he started throwing up. This lasted for a few days and we did everything to keep him hydrated. We eventually had to get some medicine to stop him from throwing up. Once that ended, he started feeling a little better, but was still exhausted, and the fever and the rash were still bad.

He missed school all last week, he mostly slept all day. By the middle of last week, I was getting worried again. He wasn't throwing up any more, but he wasn't getting better either. He was still exhausted, he still had the rash and he still had a fever. I took him back to the doctor on Friday September 17th. Our pediatrician and another doctor looked at him and were concerned that the rash and fever hadn't subsided yet. They made a few phone calls and next thing we know, we are headed to Primary Children's Hospital.

They were concerned that Parker had Kawasaki Disease. Which is a disease that affects the heart.

He fit several of the signs and symptoms and our pediatrician and the doctors at PCMC thought it would be a good idea to get him looked at. Better to be safe than sorry.

Parker was checked by about 6 doctors and 5 nurses when we got there. They took blood, urine and boogers/mucus to run several tests. He was also very dehydrated.

He also had an echo cardiogram on his heart to determine any damage.

Luckily, there was no damage to his heart. His lab work came back looking great.

They watched Parker closely over night and eventually his fever went away and once he was hydrated he started feeling better.

The doctors told us we could stay the rest of the weekend or go home and rest. They still have a few labs they want to do, but since his heart looked good, the labs looked good and the fever was gone, Parker could go home. We felt fine with going home.

It has been a long few weeks...but we feel blessed that Parker is finally doing better. It may take him another week or so to get all his energy back and to gain the weight back he lost, but I think we are finally to the end of this crazy illness.

His rash is almost gone and the fever has not returned.

The doctors are still baffled as to why the illness took so long to go away and they are pretty sure he contracted a viral infection along with the Scarlat Fever. We are just waiting back to hear what kind of viral infection. Parker is finally eating better, sleeping better and starting to act like himself again. He went to school for half a day yesterday and then came home and took a 2 hour nap. He is doing a full day at school today and I am sure he will be wiped out when he gets home. Hopefully, he will just keep getting better from here on out.

We just want to say thanks to all our family and friends for all your love, support, phone calls, emails and for being willing to help us with anything. We really appreciate it!!