chicken pox. or is it?

The last time my kids went in the hot tub, two of them got the CHICKEN POX.  

Or so my Pediatrician suspected. 

And I was shocked.  Shocked because both of them had the varicella vaccinations as scheduled, and I kinda thought it would actually prevent them from getting chicken pox. 

So anyway, we were at my sister's in CT and the kids spent their time going from the hot tub to the pool to the hot tub all weekend, and they were having a great old time.  We went home, and everything seemed normal, but then Alex turned up with this rash, all over his belly, and it was spreading.  So I checked the other kids, because I was like, what is this?  And Meg had it too.  I was thinking about what they ate, what they did - trying to figure out why they were having a reaction and what it was related to.  It never once crossed my mind that it could be chicken pox.

So I brought them to the doc because it was irritating, and they were uncomfortable.  And they made us come in through a back door and then SEQUESTERED us in the basement!!  Really, they did!  Because obviously if it was a highly contagious rash, they didn't want to infect any other patients.  I thought they might want to have a better plan in place for such a thing, but who am I to complain.

After a short wait, the Dr. came down and examined them and said they had the freaking chicken pox, and I was like, what?!  Then I felt nervous.  I have never had them, and I know it can be dangerous to adults.  The doctor proceeded to write a note to get the kids out of school for a week, she gave me paperwork on it, and sent me on my merry way.

Ugh.

Of course I called my sisters to tell them, because our kids were together all week, and when I mentioned it to my sister Jen (who is an RN), she said, "I bet it's the hot tub rash, Julian has it too."  I had never heard of it, so I googled it (what else is new?) and sure enough, it looked exactly like the pictures I saw.  Jenney told me that apparently it is easy to make the mistake, because the rashes do look very similar.  Jen was beside herself because she has a pool/hot tub guy that is supposed to make sure everything is maintained properly, and clearly he didn't do his job.  (Jenney has a guy for everything - mowing, shoveling, plowing, pool  maintenance, etc.  I wish I had a guy.)

And to bring this long-winded story to a close, I self diagnosed my kids with the hot tub rash (real name: foliculitis), they cleared up on their own in a few days and Jen drained her hot tub and had it thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.  When I called the doc to suggest the hot tub rash, she wouldn't concur (I love that word), and I know it's because she didn't want to admit she misdiagnosed them.

That's OK though.  I still love her, and besides, I know I was right.

I was reading Jana, from the meanestmom blog, and her post reminded me of this incident. (disclaimer: I am in no way stealing her idea so I can get more readers. Or am I?)