Two Co Pays Later

I didn't go to work today but made doctor appointments. I now have an inhaler for Albuterol and Z pack. I took the first dose of Zpack today and will continue tomorrow. Its just viral but since its been hanging on so long the doctor gave me a prescription for the antibiotics. The inhaler will help reduce the cough and tightness of breath. My lungs are clear and I didn't have a fever so that was good.

Both girls took turns giving me my pills and Ella just replaced my water for me. I have wonderful nurses. Now they are dancing in the living room. Elizabeth's movie just ended (Princess Diary 2) and Ella watched a tiny bit of it. At one point she came over and said Queen... so I asked if I was queen. She said, No Cinderella. ;-)

The other co pay was for Elizabeth. She has had a rash all week and it wasn't getting better. I thought it was hives from some lotion but I was wrong. She has Fifth Disease. I guess its a very common childhood disease. The hard part is kids are contagious when they show flu like symptoms but before the rash shows up. Once the rash is present, they no longer are contagious.

The rash showed up early last week so I assumed it was due to the lotion or the chlorine from the pool. Turns out I was wrong but I am glad Elizabeth was not infecting the kids at daycare or school. And she is able to go back to school tomorrow. I don't think Ella has it - her symptoms are more like a cold but who knows.

I found the explaination for the name on Med MD: "The name "fifth disease" originated in 1905, when a French physician assigned numbers to the common childhood diseases characterized by rashes. For example, measles was "first disease," scarlet fever was "second disease," rubella was "third disease," and so on. Eventually, the numerical names for these diseases were replaced, except in the case of fifth disease, which remains today. "

So here's hoping you don't get the Fifth.