Vibes for LyricKid. We're going to the hospital.

[Lyric]

He came home from my stepfather's place on Saturday night, with a tiny little rash on his forearm. We figured it was poison ivy, and washed it with some cold water and soap before giving him a little Benadryl and sending him to bed. He woke up with it spread halfway up his arm, and creeping onto his chest. As of right now, it's covering half his torso, a mixture of tiny red bumps, inflamed red skin, undefined circular welts, and big crescent-shaped welts--no blisters or fluid-filled bumps, though. He's also started running a fever. Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream seems to help for a little while, but after two hours whatever help the medicines give just wears back off and he's worse than ever.

I wanted to wait until tomorrow, but he's miserable and this is scaring me--especially the sudden fever. We're not using any new detergents or soaps, my stepfather says he didn't eat anything new or bathe with anything new out there, and we have no idea where this is coming from. He's now starting to complain that his "gums hurt." That's entirely too close to the throat for my comfort, so off to the ER we go as soon as leftyclimber or Mrleftyclimber get here.

:(

[leftyclimber]

1. Yikes.

Big, non-itchy hugs to LyricKid. :(

AND STOP HAVING TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL, FOR CRISSAKES! That is just ENOUGH with the sick people! :P

(Obviously Mr_leftyclimber is heading your way. ;))

:hug:

[flvegan]

2. Goodness.

Wishes for a speedy end to the misery.

[Bossy Monkey]

3. Good luck, best wishes and an MJQ boxed set worth of vibes

Could that be hives? If so, it wouldn't have to have been something new; you get the allergic reaction upon the second exposure to whatever is causing it. Regardless, best wishes to LyricKid, and to you.

[Spacemom]

4. Good vibes on the way

I hope it turns out to be something simply remedied and you're back home soon. :hug:

[hippywife]

5. All the best, as always.

I hope it's nothing serious and he comes home tonight in comfort. :hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My dear lyric!

WTF is going on???

Major, major vibes for LyricKid!

Oh, how unfair life can be sometimes, really...

:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

[Haole Girl]

7. Hope he feels better soon!

[Shell Beau]

8. I hope he is ok!

:hug: To him and you!! :hug:

[hedgehog]

9. Good luck! I was betting on poison ivy until you mentioned a fever!

BTW - for anyone interested, poison ivy can be a two stage process. First you get a rash where the oil contacted your skin, then your immune system goes into overdrive and you can end up with a rash anywhere and everywhere. If your symptoms get worse instead of better after initial home treatment, see a doctor.

The rash you get from poison ivy is actually an allergic reaction. If you've wandered through poison ivy with no resulting rash, all that means is you're not allergic.......yet.

AND NEVER, EVER BURN POISON IVY! The oil vaporizes and the people can inhale it!

[Lars39]

10. There's stuff called Tecnu that you can get at the pharmacy.

It gets rid of the oils from poison ivy. Husband is really allergic and Tecnu helped get things under control. Hope the little feller gets to feeling better soon. :hug:

[SallyMander]

11. Aww, hope he feels better soon!

:hug:

[Orrex]

12. Post when you can to let us know that he's doing just fine!

:hug:

[bigwillq]

13. Oh jeez.

Hope he's ok. :hug:

[lightningandsnow]

14. Hope he gets better soon!

Sounds scary. Hope everything turns out okay. :hug:

[snacker]

15. Sending good thoughts and good vibes. n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. Kicking ...

and sending ~~ Vibes for LyricKid ~~

[underseasurveyor]

17. Sounds like hives

and if it is hives and speaking as someone that has a history of getting them.......

absolutely fucking miserable... treatable... but miserable. FYI Zyrtec works wonders for me when I get an outbreak.

If it isn't hives I truly hope it's nothing serious.

[Lyric]

18. Update: we're home.

Severe allergic reaction to poison ivy.

LyricKid will be on tapering doses of prednisone for half a month, along with antihistamines. In the meantime, he's now scheduled to see his pediatrician in about five days to check on his progress and talk about scheduling an extensive allergy test--just in case there's anything else we need to know about. In the meantime, the docs have made it clear--no playing in the woods, helping Pappy carry in firewood, or exposing his skin to unknown plants for the foreseeable future. He's kinda bummed about that, but the docs told him straight out that the *next* exposure to poison ivy will probably be a much worse reaction than this one. :(

[dropkickpa]

19. That sucks

Dropkid gets like that with poison ivy. She's super allergic, and pred is the only thing that knocks out her reaction. I love arguing with docs about it whenever she gets it, they always want to try the simple stuf first and I always have to put my foot down and force them to go back and look at her history so they'll put her on pred.

[XOEnterprises]

20. Good thing you caught it.

Poor kid, I hope he gets better soon!

[tigereye]

22. oh, did he have hives or something?

that isn't fun. Glad things are settled down for you.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

23. Poor thing.

I hope it doesn't get in his lungs.

[miss_american_pie]

24. Oh the poor kid

And watch the steroids. They can cause severe hyperactivity. You don't want to even know.

:hug:

[1gobluedem]

21. Poor little guy

I'm glad you took him in and hope that's the end of his dramatic hospital adventures for awhile. It's a bummer that he has to stay out of the woods but it's better than the alternative.

Healing vibes to you all...:hi: