Roseola (Sixth Disease)

This week has been so very tiring and long. I don't think I've ever gotton so little and so much sleep at one time! Ellie was so miserable all week long. I felt horrible for her.

Turns out Ellie had something called Roseola or Sixth Disease...a human herpes virus 6 spread through respitory secretions. It somehow managed to wiggle it's way to my daughter's tiny little body (Jae and I assume she caught it from our Starved Rock trip...incubation period is about 9 days, it could also have been from Sunday school, but we will never know...those grimy kids!)

I was relieved to discover this herpes virus is not the same virus associated with cold sores or STD's. Ellie had high fevers starting Monday morning and lasting thru Wednesday evening. By Thursday, her fever went down and she was feeling much better...eating well. On Friday she had no fevers, but developed red spots all over her face, body, and arms. They were spreading to her legs as well, so I had Jae call the doctor's office. They told us not to worry as long as the spots didn't get bigger or start to blister and Ellie didn't present a fever. The red spots were merely a sign that her illness was coming to an end. Hopefully, they will only last a few days and she doesn't seem to be bothered by them, so we are glad.

Ellie spent most of yesterday recouperating and slept at 4:30 til 10:30pm. She stayed up a bit, watched mommy paint her pumpkin, watched a little tv, then went to bed around 11:30. As we laid in bed together, I raised up a quick prayer to God...asking He would heal Ellie quickly, thanking Him that Ellie's illness wasn't more severe, and thanking Him for giving Jae and me just enough patience and strength to help Ellie through it all.

Ellie fell asleep almost instantly, woke up around 7:30am and played with her blocks until I got up a few minutes later. Although Ellie developed a few more red spots, most of her old spots are either almost gone or turned pink. She was in better spirits and we enjoyed a lazy morning on mommy and daddy's bed watching Winnie the Pooh as a family ( including Chloe, of course). Later Jae took Ellie downstairs for some breakfast while I was able to sleep til 10:30am. God is Good All the Time...especially through our difficult times...if only we could say this not in hindsight.