The Mackays: Connor's run in with the MEASLES!

Connor got sick a few weeks ago and as every new symptom occurred we got more and more worried and more confused! Thankfully he is completely OK now and after 4 doctor visits and a few sleepless nights we made it out the other side.

Here is how it started: At first he got very fussy and was sleeping a lot for 2 days. The next day he had a fever and a cough. That night he could not go to sleep! It sounds crazy but he was just so uncomfortable and unhappy that nothing could the little man to sleep. We finally gave in to The Land Before Time movie around midnight, and watched it until 6am!! As early as possible we headed to the doctor to see if he needed antibiotics.

The doctor said he had a mild ear infection in each ear and prescribed him antibiotics. No biggie right?!? Until...later that day he got a rash all over his body. We had another sleepless night and poor Connor was itchy and miserable. The next day we returned to the doctor and they said he had Strep throat and the rash was a Strep rash (used to be called scarlet fever). They tested him for Strep, it came back negative, but the doctor still thought it was Strep. The doctor changed his antibiotics and said he'd be fine!

Then the next day...his poor rash got worse and moved to his face. We went back to the doctor yet again because it was a Friday and we didn't want to be stuck all weekend wondering if he'd be okay. This time they quarantined us in the doctors office for possible chicken pox or measles! Ah! At this point I was kind of freaking out! Two doctors examined Connor's rash and looked in his mouth. They ruled out chicken pox right away and thought it might be the measles or the mumps. They said they saw Koplik Spots in his mouth, which is used to diagnose measles, and his rash looked like a mild case of the measles. They also said that the measles can cause ear infections, cough and fever. They were both confident in there diagnoses and said nothing else can cause Koplik Spots besides the measles. They asked us if he received the MMR vaccine, which he hasn't yet! (We wanted to wait an extra year for his 1 year shots). They then decided not to do a blood test because there is no treatment for the measles so it wasn't necessary.

Red tongue and Koplik Spots

They assured us he'd be fine and just needed to stay hydrated, get lots of rest, stay away from other kids, and they gave us an antibacterial cream to put on his sores in case they got 'crusty'. They did get crusty so we were thankful we had it. From what the doctors told us a bacterial infection is one of the major concerns with the measles. Getting a secondary bacterial infection, which goes right to the bloodstream, can require hospitalization! I lathered that cream on HEAVY!

After a week of a rashy, sick toddler and being quarantined in our house Connor is now 100%. The rash is gone and we are back on our regular schedule. We went back to the doctor after Connor's rash was almost gone just to make sure everything was OK. This doctor was weary of the measles diagnoses so we tested his blood to see if it was the measles or an antibiotic allergic reaction. The results said it wasn't an antibiotic reaction, which we were happy about because we hoped he wasn't allergic to an antibiotic as common as amoxicillin. And then the measles test came back inconclusive! So pretty much that means that he did have some measles antibodies but not enough to provide immunity or to say positively that he had it. So I guess we will never know for sure.

We are just thankful he is all better and didn't infect any of his friends!

Here are some pictures of Connor with his run in with the measles (or possible measles!)