My Girls

Well, it seems that whatever Lily had a month ago is still wreaking havoc over here! It started out with her having croup and a fever. Then a couple of days later, she broke out in the rash that looked exactly like chicken pox at first. However, by the next day, instead of the bumps shrinking and crusting like chicken pox do, they got bigger and blistered up. They never did burst. It just took about 5 days and they went back down and went away. She still has a bunch of round purple marks where some of them were.

The Dr. didn't know what it was. She said, well if she gets more, it's probably chicken pox. If not, it's most likely impetigo (a staph infection). I never thought it was either. I actually thought maybe it was a strep infection, because Kaylee came down with a sore throat/fever a couple of days after Lily got the rash. We took her to the Dr. and they weren't sure if it was strep or not. They gave her an antibiotic, but we never had to get it filled. Lily also took antibiotics for 2 weeks.

I sat up one night looking at all kinds of pictures to try and figure out what kind of rash she had. My main concern was is this something we are all going to get......is it contagious?! I cleaned for days, so much that my hands were raw from washing them so much.

A couple of weeks ago, Lily's toes and fingers started peeling excessively. It was crazy! I found that the antibiotic she was on can cause that, as well as strep infection, so I didn't worry. It was just a side effect. Then, she lost her pinky toe this past weekend. You know, the pinky toenail is so tiny, I thought maybe it just was really affected by the rash and didn't survive. It's not infected or anything like that. It just completely peeled away and we clipped it off. Underneath, it looks like a very, very thin nail is there.

So, yesterday I noticed her fingernails looked weird. And yes, wouldn't you know her fingernails are all detaching from the cuticles and it looks like they are going to come off too. When she had that rash, her cuticles were all very inflamed and hurt to touch them. So, whatever virus she had got in her nail bed, evidently.

I researched it last night and this is a documented thing with kids after having Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. The Dr. didn't diagnose her with that virus, (even though the bumps were mostly on her hands and feet, with some scattered on her arms and legs and outside of her mouth) because normally they will have bumps inside their mouth and Lily didn't. However, I read they don't always have the mouth bumps. But, I found a document from the CDC saying this is a recent thing being reported with HFMD, having the detached nails. It always happens about a month after the virus. There was also an outbreak of this happening in Spain and they found all the kids had HFMD prior. So, I am fairly certain that what she had was HFMD.

My "Mommy instinct" always told me it was not impetigo. That kind of infection is spread by touch and her bumps all popped up at once, just like a virus. Plus, the antibiotic cream and meds didn't do anything. Of course, I could be wrong, but I really feel like since her nails are doing this, it was a virus, at least in the same family as HFMD. I read a lot of forums of Moms whose kids this happened too also and none of their doctors knew what it was either! The good thing is that all of their nails grew back normally, no problem. I will call her Dr. on Monday just to let her know though.

If you click on the picture, you can see how her middle finger is white near the cuticle and detaching.
And a close-up of her other hand.
Poor thing! I'm just glad it's only a cosmetic thing and that they should return to normal after a few months. It's not painful either, so that's good! Seems if it's not one thing, it's another, sometimes, right?!

Another horrible thing that happened yesterday is that Madison got in the car after school, upset because that morning was her Star Student breakfast and neither of us knew it was going to be that day! She got picked by her teacher to be a Star Student for this last six weeks. There are 2 kids picked from each class every six weeks. She got it last year too. I am so proud of her!! They have a breakfast where they recognize them and parents get to come and I never got the letter saying it was going to be yesterday, and Madison had no idea either, so she had to go all by herself with no parents there. :( I almost started crying too when I heard that! I really wish they would make sure to remind the kids the day before! She wasn't upset at me, only at the situation, because she said she knows I am proud of her and would've been there. She is so precious! I took them out for ice cream after school and I told her I will come and eat lunch with her one day next week. Luckily, my neighbor's daughter also got star student and so she sat with Madison too and took some pics of it.

Kaylee came home with a letter this week saying her art had been chosen for a local county youth fair art show. I am so proud of her. She really loves art. Then, Madison said she got one too on Friday, so that made her day a little better. So, next Friday we will all go and view their artwork at the local county community center.

Both girls came home with excellent report cards too last week! Both got straight A's. Kaylee got a 99 in math and Madison got a 100 in science/social studies! They are super smart girls! They are both in advanced classes, so that is awesome to make those kind of grades!

Can you tell I am so proud of them?!! Of course, I would still be so proud of them even if they didn't make these accomplishments, as long as they were trying their best. That's what my Mom always told me........if an 80 was my best, then that's all she expected. I am just so excited to see them develop into the girls that God made them to be. I am still trying to figure out who God made me to be! Ha!!