One day, Hailey came home from school and about an hour later she said "hey mom, look at this rash on my arms." I thought it was heat rash, but then she said lots of kids at school had it. I texted a picture to my mom, who showed my sister in law, and she said it looked like Fifth's Disease. I googled it, and sure enough, it looked exactly like that. She started to get it on her face, and it looked like she was blushing. I guess it was going around the lower grades at school, and by the time you get the rash, you are no longer contagious. From what I read, most people are barley bothered by the itching. Most People!! Hailey, apparently, is not most people. The poor girl. She actually wasn't itching too bad until she went swimming for an hour. I had no idea sun was bad for it, and it made her have a SEVERE reaction. Her back, arms and legs had a crazy rash on them. She was itching so bad, it was the saddest thing. After spending nearly $75 bucks on every cream and lotion imaginable, we took her to the doctor. I had called them before that, and she advised me what to do to keep her comfortable. Anyhow, nothing was working, so we brought her in. The doctor did nothing! I was so mad! We had had three days of no sleep and constant itching, and lots and lots of tears. I knew she needed a steroid, but the dang doctor just said try an allergy med. So, off to spend more money on stuff that wasn't going to work. After another sleepless, tear filled night, I got her into the dermatologist. What a relief, he gave her a steroid shot and some steroid cream. She was still itching, but it did help it slightly. He said it could last six to eight weeks!! I wanted to cry for her. This was not normal itching, it was intense itching, all over her body, all at once. I literally had to sleep with her, and put pressure on her back so she could get some relief. For such a "harmless" little illness, it was horrendous! She had to take an entire week off of school. The next couple of weeks, she couldn't be in the sun for long, or get overheated. Finally, after about a month, she is no longer itching! After this experience, I wouldn't wish this on anyone!
This was the first day. Not too bad.
Then she went swimming! I felt so bad
when I looked back at these pictures! You
can totally see the rash getting worse :(
And she was having so much fun, too!
This was after swimming, and when the terrible itching
started. I felt SOOOO bad for her!
We tried baking soda baths, they didn't really do much.
She cried so much, it was heartbreaking. I tried
cheering her up with a root beer float!
First doctor appointment, with her Build
A Bear panda. I was so mad when
we left here!
Poor girl watched A TON of TV.
Rosy cheeks!
