On the Road to Recovery

Chloe has been suffering from a string of ailments. It all started 3 weeks ago when she fell down at daycare and developed a black eye. The following week, her other eye turned totally bloodshot and red. I suspected the red eye was the result of a reaction to the chlorine in the pool from her swimming lessons.

After concerned comments from several people regarding the red eye, I felt self-conscious enough to take her to the doctor to rule out "pink eye". Chloe screamed in the car for the entire 30 minutes to the doctor's office. Upon further inspection, the doctor agreed that the redness of the eye was a reaction to the pool chlorine, but he also discovered some inflammation in her right ear and prescribed antibiotics. I had heard a lot of stories about antibiotics being over-prescribed for ear infections, but I didn't say anything and just went along with the doctor's recommendation.

5 days later, Chloe developed a high fever that lasted for two days with no other apparent symptoms. We had a physical appointment for her on Tuesday, so I took the opportunity to ask the doctor about her fever and the slight rash on her collarbone. Chloe appeared in otherwise good health this day with no more fever. I even asked if this could be a reaction to the antibiotics that she had now been taking for a week. This doctor was quite confident that she probably had some sort of virus that was causing the fever and rash and she recommended we continue the medicine that Chloe was prescribed.

Later that evening, Chloe's rash had begun to spread to her face and arms. After a bath, it seemed to subside, even almost disappear on her face. We had tickets to a Wiggles Concert and there was no way Chloe was going to let one of us take Pearl and leave her at home. So we all went. Chloe was OK at first, but by the time the show started, she was already beginning to get fussy. She only enjoyed a couple of songs near the end, when she had a brief second wind. Pearl, on the other hand was dancing and bouncing and singing along with all the songs. She was having so much fun! Afterward, at home, Pete insisted we forgo the medicine and take Chloe back to the doctor's one more time.

By Wednesday morning, she was covered from head to toe in a hive-like itchy rash. She was coughing and congested and just plain miserable. Pete took her into the doctor and it was confirmed. Chloe is allergic to penicillin. She was prescribed an alternative antibiotic and sent home to recover. By Thursday, she looked even worse, but she was able to sleep at night, which she hadn't done the night prior.

She pitched a royal 45 minute tantrum/fit when she had to stay home with Mom while Pearl went to swim class. Finally, after calming down, I gave her a bath and got out the camera to document her condition. The rash looks far worse in person than in the photos. They don't show the severity of it on her torso. We are so glad to finally have this medical mystery behind us.