The Invisible Enemy

It feels kind of pointless to post this, since many of you already have heard about our battle with Strep these past few weeks, but I wanted to post it anyways for journaling purposes, and certainly not to try and stroke more sympathy out of people. But I cannot deny that these past few weeks have been a bit of a nightmare for our family. Just last month Tim and I were casually joking that it had been far too long since he had taken a sick day at work and he needed a good case of something nasty so he could stay home. I should have known better; as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. Not long after that foolish conversation which should have been followed by a good, hard knocking on wood, our battle with strep began.

*For dramatic effect and entertainment value, the following story should be read in the voice of Keith Morrison, narrator of Dateline NBC.

Our tale begins on a cool spring evening on Thursday, April 24th, in the quiet community of Lake Monticello, Virginia. It seemed like any other day in the Carroll family home, dinner was finished, three young boys were just finishing with their baths, and mom and dad were looking forward to another quiet night at home. But as the sun set over the treetops surrounding their 3 bedroom rancher, this family of five was soon to be struck down by an invisible enemy. Shortly after retiring to bed, four year old Ethan began to run a low grade fever. Thankfully, after a dose of Motrin he seemed to feel fine. He even played happily at home the next day. But again Friday evening, the fever returned along with complaints about needing to use a bathroom frequently. Perhaps a urine infection was behind it all? Saturday came and Ethan's fever continued. Mom and dad were starting to worry, but with very few symptoms they were unsure of what the problem was. Sunday dawned bright and beautiful; Ethan and Dad stayed behind from church. After returning home, Mom found that Ethan seemed to be feeling much better and his fever had mysteriously disappeared. Perhaps it was all behind them. But in a few short hours things would take a drastic turn- and not for Ethan but, strangely, for Dad. Would dad be able to survive the days to come? Find out when "The Invisible Enemy" returns after these messages....

Okay, that was exhausting so enough with the Dateline dramatics. So Sunday afternoon, Tim started to complain of a sore throat and by that night he was in bad shape. Monday we took him to the doctor and he tested positive for strep. They put him on Penicillin and I tried to take care of him and keep my distance at the same time. But despite my efforts, Tuesday morning I felt a little tickle in my throat and I just knew that it was my turn next. I headed to the doctor to get put on antibiotics before it got bad, but late that night I woke up unable to swallow my own saliva and shivering like crazy. So now Tim, who was still pretty sick, had to take care of me on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Wesley is running a mild fever, but maybe he is just teething? Wednesday night came and Jace woke up complaining of a sore throat- here we go. So Thursday we all headed to the Dr. where all three kids were swabbed and all, even the baby, tested positive for Strep. But hey, at least we could treat them all at the same time. And conference weekend seemed like a convenient enough time to be sick. So we spent the next 10 days throwing away toothbrushes, bleaching sheets and surfaces, boiling the new toothbrushes multiple times, and everything else you could think of to keep the nasty germs at bay and not reinfect ourselves. And all seemed to go well until Sunday, April 9th when Jace woke up with a sore throat again. He had just finished his last dose of antibiotic the night before. So I took him in on Monday morning, and sure enough, positive strep test again. So round 2 of antibiotic began for Jace. My last dose of the same Amoxicillin Jace took the first time was Sunday night and Tuesday morning I could feel the familiar tickle in my throat. I tried to pass it off as spring allergies and convince myself that I was just being paranoid, but by that night I knew that this was not in my head. And it was worse the second time around for me. I felt like death that night- my whole body hurt like crazy, I couldn't stop shaking, I couldn't get warm and the ibuprofen did nothing to help me. Thankfully, Tim was able to stay home the next day and play Mr. Mom and I headed to the Dr once again. Possitive- and round 2 for me too. Yipee! I am terrified to get our bill after this whole strep fiasco- it is probably going to be more than the bill after having Wesley! But right now we are all feeling healthy, and I am just praying that Strep does not visit us again. EVER!!!!