Day 767 - Chicken Pox? Really?

It's official. This kid is never going to be healthy again. 

This 'Curious George' gif goes out to Ellie.

That's probably a bit of an overreaction but it's been one thing after another for poor Ethan over the past month. It all began with him having the flu back around the start of February. Then, he found himself suffering from an ear infection. Now, Ethan finds himself fighting perhaps the most unlikely illness imaginable: the chicken pox.

I realize that it's slightly overreactionary for  me to describe chicken pox as an unlikely illness. After all, children have fallen ill to the chicken pox for hundreds of years. I myself remember my own bout with the chicken pox like it was yesterday. I was in second grade and had the misfortune of contracting the illness over my birthday. For the record, the O.J. Simpson trial was also going on at that time if anyone cares.

In today's world though, the chicken pox is becoming more and more rare. That's normally the case when a vaccine has been found to assist in the prevention of an illness. A vaccine that Ethan received just two weeks ago. Unfortunately for Ethan, he falls within the 2% of people who end up contracting chicken pox after receiving the vaccine. Of course he would, right?

I can't help but feel horrible for the little guy. Bethany and I first noticed a few signs of redness and rashes on his chest on Tuesday night but didn't give it much though. As the day went along on Wednesday though, it became more and more evident that something was wrong. For one thing, the rash continued to spread from his chest to his back to his arms to his face. It even invaded poor Ethan's diaper. Honestly, just looking at my son makes me want to cry.

There are some positives to be found in this weird situation. For one thing, he doesn't seem to be super uncomfortable. While he obviously doesn't feel like himself, Ethan's not obsessively scratching all over like most chicken pox patients would. Also, according to the doctor, Ethan is in no way contagious. It's just a random occurrence that will likely run its course within three days. 

On another positive note, Bethany and I actually came to the conclusion that Ethan is likely nearing the end of the virus being in his system. His rash has already started subsiding in areas where it was present on Wednesday. Ones that showed up today are still as red and raised as ever though. We have hope though that those will fade tomorrow as well.

There is one more thing that we can be thankful for. That being the simple fact that Ellie didn't contract chicken pox back when she received the vaccine and as a result of receiving said vaccine, she can't contract the virus now. For the record, she is still very susceptible to the "Chicken Dance". Seriously, all one has to do is play the song and she is overcome by a desire to dance along. Unfortunately, there is still no known cure for that. #DaddyWrite