5th Disease

No... this is not my 5th disease (not sure how many I have had, but I'm sure it's more than five at this point), rather this is an illness called "5th Disease."

Here's my story...

Around Christmas I had a second round of a cold that the rest of my family had as well.  The cold seems to have gone away, but the cough has remained.  I cough more in the morning and evening... not coughing so much in school or during the day on weekends (but still cough off and on).  We all kept hoping it would just go away.

Sienna and I spent the night at Grandma and Granddad's on Sunday night as we didn't have school on Monday.  When we got home, Mom noticed how red my face was and upon further look, my arms as well.  It looked like I had windburn, yet had spent the rainy day inside.

That night, I woke up in the middle of the night coughing and couldn't get back to sleep.  Mom got me some cough syrup and sprayed my throat and by accident pinched the side of my mouth resulting in me crying a bit... resulting in me coughing... resulting in my throwing up on my Mom!

That morning, she called the doctor's office and scheduled an appointment... Thursday morning was the earliest they had.

Wednesday, while I was in class I started not to feel so good and got sleepy.  My teacher sent me to the school nurse who called my Mom.  She came and got me after a lengthy discussion with the nurse.  The nurse had noticed the redness of my face and believed that I have 5th Disease.  Although I was feeling just fine by the time my mom got to school, she took me home as I had that doctor appointment already scheduled for the following morning.

The doctor agreed with the school nurse.  I have 5th Disease... it's a common childhood illness and once you know you have it (the redness of the face and arms) you are no longer contagious.  Here's some more information if you are curious to learn more!

She thinks that since I have been fighting so many illnesses, my body is doing what it should in coughing trying to clear the "crud" out of me.  Just in case, since it has been going on so long, she took a swab to test for pertussis.

The test has since come back negative (as we all thought it would).   I am still coughing.  The intensity of red comes and goes, but it is still there on my face and arms.  I am itchy from time to time still on my arms.

And.... my Mom is starting to question if I am getting a cold.  We all hope not.

Other than that, I feel great!  Really.

~ Logan