First A Flea Circus And Now A Chicken Coop

As of my last post, we were thinking that Kaylea might have come in contact with some fleas, either from Angel or the yard. Well, the "bites" have continued to multiply over the last week - not a lot, mind you, but a few new ones each day. I have thoroughly cleaned Kaylea's room; went over her bedding with a fine tooth comb; washed everything in HOT water that would fit in the washing machine; vacuumed on my hands and knees around the baseboards; and vacuumed the rest of the her room as well. All of this and not a single flea in sight; additionally, Barry and I have yet to receive the first flea bite.

I just couldn't figure out where the "bites" were coming from, so I decided it was probably best to take her to the Doctor on Monday (today). In the meantime, I spent quite awhile Saturday on the Internet looking up all sorts of insect bites and children's rashes. (Man there is some funky stuff out there - just sayin'.) I quickly eliminated the possibilities of shingles and body lice; however, I was questionable about the whole bed bug thing. So, I sent Bub to Walmart to buy a microscope so I could examine some black flakes I had collected in Kaylea's room during the cleaning process. (I know, I watch way too much CSI.) When I looked at Kaylea's crime scene - I mean bedroom samples, well they looked like the same black blobs of stuff as before, only now they were just really big. In other words, I still couldn't tell what it was.
*****Note to self: Horatio Cane didn't get his microscope at Walmart!

Yesterday, Grammy offered up a diagnosis of the mystery "bites". She said that Bub use to get similar spots when he was little and they were caused by his allergies. That gave us something else to think (worry) about. I was afraid the Doctor would want to give her an allergy test and this child is deathly afraid of any type of needle.

Kaylea went to school this morning armed with her Benedryl Itch Stick and I told her I would make a doctors appointment and check her out of school early. When we arrived at the Doctor's office the nurse seemed a little stumped when she looked at Kaylea's "bites." She took down all of the information and left us to wait for the Doctor.

When the Doctor came in she looked at Kaylea's "bites" and then confirmed that I was correct. She does not have shingles or body lice or flea bites or bed bug bites. The Doctor seems to believe that Kaylea has an atypical case of the ..........................................CHICKEN POX! Bub and I were quite surprised by this diagnosis, especially since Kaylea received the chicken pox vaccination twice, with the last one being within the last two years. The Doctor said that the bumps had the appearance of chicken pox sores and since new ones had continued to appear each day over the last week this would match the cycle of chicken pox, as well. She felt that because Kaylea had been vaccinated twice, her symptoms were not normal for the illness. Nonetheless, she said that Kaylea is contagious and we needed to keep her home from school through Thursday. Typically, the pox will develop for about a week, so we should be about done; however, if Kaylea develops any new pox tomorrow or Wednesday, we are to keep out of school through Friday. If she is still developing pox by Thursday they want to see her again, because it isn't chicken pox that she has. If that is the case they will have a dermatologist look at her.

Well my friends, now you know as much as I do. I might have a child with chicken pox and then again, maybe not. I guess the good part is that Kaylea gets a second Spring Break, but, unfortunately, she doesn't understand why she can't play outside this time.




Oh and P.S.
I bet you had always wondered why this Blog is called Curiously Kaylea. Now you know - she just gets curiouser and curiouser!!!!!