Chickenpox

Hi, it’s me again!

So I know I explained briefly in my last blog post that one of the reasons I had been away from my blog again was because that Kory had caught the chickenpox. I have wrote about the first time Kory was ever ill and I’ve spoke about other times when Kory and Kora have both been off side but Kory has never been quite as ill as he was when he had the chickenpox.

And oh boy am I glad that is over with.

On Monday last week he was sent home from school, along with 9 other children out of his class who had caught the chickenpox – it was clearly spreading through his class quite quickly. I went to his school to pick him up that same morning and he just had the one spot on his neck and was completely fine in himself but within a matter of hours and after having a bath the spots quickly multiplied to more and more until Kory was totally covered in the pox from head to toe. Kory had quite a bad case of chickenpox, which I’ve heard (let me know if this is false) will mean that it is unlikely that he will catch the chickenpox again as opposed to him having a milder dose which if true, I suppose is a good thing. I wouldn’t want him to have them ever again!

Anyway, Kory’s body was covered all over with the pox, they were even all in his mouth, under his tongue and at the back of his throat (who knew you could even get them in your mouth?!) meaning it was painful for him whenever he tried to eat or drink anything and he had a raging temperature to go with it too. I felt so sorry for him and I felt so helpless. I could tell he really wasn’t feeling well, my child is not one to sleep during the day but having the chickenpox wiped him out and all I wanted to do was take the hurt away from him but instead all I could offer him was calpol and calamine lotion which helped of course but only briefly.

The first three days were horrendous and so were the nights. Kory would be up the majority of the night just crying and all I could do was hold him. I think the fact that his throat was so sore was what was bothering him the most, he didn’t complain about the other spots on his body which are usually very itchy but he did well not to pick any of them. It was a heartbreaking experience and one that I am not looking forward to going through again with Kora someday. However, at least the next time round I will be more prepared and I will know what to expect.

If your child hasn’t had the chickenpox yet, here are some tips I found helpful that I hope will help you and your child when/if the time comes:

• With Kory having the spots in his mouth, it caused him to have a red, swollen, sore throat. Plenty of cold drinks and nice ice cream for him to eat definitely helped relieve the soreness.
• Calpol will be your new best friend. (Never give a child with chickenpox ibuprofen as it can make symptoms worse and cause serious skin infections by reacting with the chickenpox, causing them to go deeper into the skin which can then make your child very unwell.) the Calpol will help with any temperature and/or itching and pain.
• Daily baths that are not too hot but that are nice and cool, this helps to soothe any itchy pox and is relaxing for your child too. Throw in some bath toys and make it fun!
• Avoid using soaps and bubble bath during this time just to avoid any more irritation to the skin.
• Gently pat skin dry after a bath (do not rub as the chickenpox will be tender to touch) once dried, finish off with covering any pox with calamine lotion.
• Loose fitting clothes such as pyjamas are the best for your child to wear to ensure they feel as comfortable as possible.
• Kory had little energy during the worst of it, we spent a lot of time just lay in bed and when he wasn’t sleeping we would just watch tv and play on his iPad together. It might be a good idea to buy some activity books and that sort of thing to keep your child entertained.
• If your child is more sleepy than usual, don’t worry about your usual routine, let them sleep. They’ll need the rest and you will too.
• There is light at the end of the tunnel. The first 3 days of Kory having the chickenpox were the WORST but once you get past that things do start to get a little easier again.
• Having the chickenpox meant that Kory needed to have at least 5 days off school, which meant that we got to spend 5 days at home together and although it wasn’t always a pleasant experience I loved the extra time with him. No hectic school run in the morning, no rushing to play out once he gets in from school. Sometimes it can feel like I barely see Kory as much as I used to. My once little boy who always wanted to be by his mums side is now a soon-to-be 5 year old who wants to play out with his friends most of the time which is great but it was also nice for me to have that bit more extra time with him, just doing the things we don’t usually have the time to do.
• Lastly, if you have any concerns about your child’s health or well being, do not hesitate to contact your doctor – I did and even though it turned out to be nothing I needed to worry about, speaking with Kory’s doctor reassured me and put my mind at rest.

So those are my tips for helping your child to deal with having the chickenpox, I hope you find my tips to be helpful. If your child has had the chickenpox, do you have any tips to share that I haven’t already mentioned? Please share them with us by leaving a comment!

So that was Kory’s experience with chickenpox, it was dreadful and after going into a bit more detail, I think you can see why taking care of Kory when he was ill with the pox didn’t exactly leave me with a lot of spare time for my blog. I hope you can understand.

As always, thanks for reading. If you liked this blog post, please leave it a like and/or comment.

Kirsti, xo