Beware of Google.

It can be a scary place sometimes….especially if you are Googling symptoms that your child is experiencing!

Friday evening at dinner, I noticed Cade’s cheeks were really red. At first, I didn’t think anything of it because he had had a bad day (week!!) at school and he had been in trouble and crying. After we finished dinner, he was calmed down, but his cheeks were still red. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be a rash…red cheeks with tiny, unraised, red pin pricks.

I called the daycare to find out what they had eaten for lunch…nothing out of the ordinary. He said it didn’t itch and he wasn’t running fever or feeling bad. Hmmmm…oh well…we’ll give him some Benadryl and it’ll be better in the morning.

Saturday morning, his cheeks were still red. Doug googled and said that he didn’t really see anything other than it was just some sort of minor rash. Okay, that’s good. We left the house, went to Cool Cuts to get the boys hair cut, breakfast at Burger King, went to the pet store (zoo-like entertainment for free! Ha ha) went to the video game store and then home again.

Cheeks are still red.

So, during nap time, while everyone was asleep, Mommy googles rashes and comes across a site that describes the 10 most common children rashes. I read all of the rash descriptions and none sound like Cade’s…that is, until I came across a rash called Petichiae. Hmmm…the description sounds exactly like what Cade’s rash looks like. Read further…this is the only rash that requires medical attention! UGH!!!! Panic!!

I got online and did web check in for Care Now…they can get us in, in 2 hours…meanwhile I’m having a nervous breakdown! We finally get there, the dr walks in and immediately says he’s got a case of “Slap Cheek” aka “Fifths Disease”. Nothing nearly as traumatic as Petichiae! *whew*!

I did ‘fess up and tell the dr that I Googled and scared myself silly. He just laughed and assured me that he had seen that scary rash and Cade definitely didn’t have it. Can I get another *whew*?!?

He is fine, no medication is required. It’s basically a viral infection and by the time the rash shows up, he isn’t contagious. By Sunday, he still had a little redness, by this morning, he was back to normal.

Wonder how many other kids from daycare had rosey cheeks this weekend and if their moms went crazy on Google? I let the daycare know about our ‘adventure’ this morning, so I’m sure I’ll get the scoop this afternoon. :o)