My Melissa has......

[carole]

Chickenpoxs, yep she has been a bit off colour all weekend and last night there they were those nasty little red spots, not much fun for a teenager, but at least she gets a week off school and the weather is so stormy and yuck, best place at home all tucked up warm and cosy, she was exposed to chickenpox so many times as a little one but never caught them, we figured where she may have picked them up, she went to a friends birthday party two weeks ago, who just happen to have a four year old sister who had chickenpox, they thought she was not contagious, but i guess they were wrong, it is 5 to 7 days after the spots appear that one is still infectious.

I have given her an antihistimane tablet and so far so good,but i guess they will get worse, it sure has been a while since i have had to deal with any childhood illnesses.

So please wish my girl well again soon,thank you.

[luvofallhorses]

I hope she is better soon!

[carole]

Thank you.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

That's awful :( I hope she starts to feel better soon, I had them when I was young and remember being absolutely miserable with them...not fun at all.

[caseysmom]

I hope she feel better soon, tell her not to scratch. Most kids here don't get them anymore, all the kids get vaccinated.

[carole]

So far she has been really good, i hope it is not the calm before the storm, yes vaccination was an option, but i decided against it, even though i am really for vaccinating my children, this one i tossed with and i hope i do not live to regret my decision,it was not one offered by schools or the goverment in NZ, and i really could not make my mind up about it, because she is nearly 14 i guess i figured she just was not going to get them at all.

[AbbyMom]

Hope she gets better soon! And yes, make sure she understands not to scratch. I learned the hard way. Tell her she can be smart about it and resist the scratching!

[caseysmom]

Well the vaccine has some questions too. My daughter had a few spots in 5th grade and her teacher was pregnant and not sure if she had them as a child or not so I kept my daughter home for a week just in case. I worry that what if my daughters get them when they are grown and pregnant or something, I am just not sure how good the vaccine is since it just came out with our childrens generation.

My pediatritian recommended it though so we did do it.

You won't regret it, she will be fine. We all grew up with them.

[G535]

I hope she gets better soon. I can't remember what age I had chickenpox but it was in primary school and I did get three weeks off.

Hope your weather improves soon too, I just saw a bit about your storms on the online news. :)

[davidpizzica]

Oh, Carole! Big {{{{HUGS}}}} to you and Melissa! I hope she's comfortable and coping with it the best she can. With all of the illnesses I've had, I've never had chickenpox! Tell Melissa that Pittsburgh prayers and good wishes are coming her way!

[prechrswife]

Ouch. That's no fun. I had them when I was in the 7th grade. Like your daughter, I had been exposed repeatedly when I was younger, but never got them. Hope she feels better very soon!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Aww bless her - when my Katie had them we found that salt water really helped with the itching

[K9karen]

Ugh! except for mumps, chicken pox was the worse childhood illness i can remember. those sucker bumps turned up inside and out-everywhere! i remember having to have my grade school photo taken when i returned to class and my hair hadn't been properly washed cause of all the scabs. i still have that gruesome picture somewhere, hope Melissa feels better soon!

[kuhio98]

I hope she feels better soon. I was very young when I had them (1st grade, I think) but I remember being miserable for a while. Well, at least she'll be immune now and won't have to worry about it anymore.

[Cataholic]

OUCH. I had them when I was 6-7 or so. I have heard that the older you are the more painful it is? But, I lived through them.

The vaccine, like all vaccines, carries a slight risk. BUT, as to the chicken pox vaccine, it is said the disease is **much** worse then the vaccine, and one I went ahead and had Jones immunized for.

[catnapper]

Poor Melissa! I hear its a terrible illness for teens and adults. Good luck and I hope for as little itchiness as possible.

[carole]

Yes well i can report Melissa is doing very well , she has resisted scratching and i really believe the antihistimane pill has worked wonders, some are nastier than others, the ones behind her ears especially, so far she has been lucky and has not been too miserable at all, i hope the worst is over and she does not get any worse, so far she has been lucky i think.

The vaccine was never offered here in schools or like the other vaccines like MMR which of course she has had as a toddler, so it was never really promoted much, i doubt that many people knew about it, oh well too late now, i think there may be a few more teenagers going down with it in her class, as some have not had it either, but it won't be too many , as most have, we traced where she picked it up, went to a friends birthday party two weeks ago who had a four yr old sister, who you guessed it had chickenpox, said she was no longer contagious, i guess they got it wrong.

Now i wish to ask a question , my son has of course had chickenpox, but he also had shingles a few years ago, i heard it is the same virus or the chickenpox virus that lies dormant, we are keeping him away from her, as i thought i heard once that contact could flare up an attack of shingles, does anyone know if that is a fact or not, of course he did have contact when she was contagious previous when we did not know, but we just have to hope that it won't affect him.

Thanks from Melissa and myself for your get well wishes and kind thoughts..always appreciated.

[MariaM]

Ah, I got them in grade 5. It was horrible..I remember coming to school with a great big scab on my forehead, and I picked it off. Well, the scar is still there. I have so many scars, I hate them. :(

[carole]

Yes i am concerned about scarring especially on the face area, as Melissa is rather pale skinned, but hopefully if she does not scratch too much, she will be lucky enough not to scarr too badly, she does not have heaps on her face, but enough i guess.

[caseysmom]

Carol, I am not sure about the shingles, I will look it up in my medical book.

Okay I looked it up in my Kaiser book, this is what they have to say:

"shingles is caused by the reactivation of the checkenpox virus in the body years after the initial illness.

No one knows what makes the virus active again. Shinges is more common in older adults and people who have weakened immune systems, but can affect snyone who has had chickenpox"

[Logan]

I'm so glad she is better, Carole. That is no fun, for sure!!!!

[carole]

Poor Melissa looks a right mess today, all the spots are scabbing over now, which is a good sign, but they look rather unsightly, still she is doing well,not really very sick at all, and not scratching, good girl, so it is just a matter of time now.

Nana popped around with a bag of crunchie bars, these are hokey pokey bars covered in cadbury chocolate for those who do not know, a favourite of all the chocoholics in my household.

Thanks Caseymom i knew that anyone can get shingles if they have had chickenpox, my son was around 22 when he got shingles, but what i am not so certain about it whether him being in contact can flare up an attack of them again for him, have kept him away to be on the safe side anyhow. :)

[ChrisH]

Aww, poor Melissa. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/CwmmawrJet/Bobby%20Boy/Smilies/Hugs2.gif Hope she is feeling better very soon. My youngest grandaughter (10) had chickenpox last year and she came through quite well but her mum caught it and was pretty ill.

[joanofark]

I feel sorry for her!!!

My grade school had a total of 150 kids and HALF of us got the the chicken pox at the same time. I was in 2nd grade. I hope he doesn't scar badly, I got two on my face.