Join Me In The “I Hate Strep” Club!

Published on Thursday, September 24, 2009 by Katherine

Last week the boys alternated sick days. By Sunday my daughter was feeling sick. There was no school Monday, but I had to take off work. Her fever broke two days later, only to return yesterday. Off to the doctor!

Her throat was a bit red, so the doctor checked for strep. Can you guess? Positive. Now for the fun part. When I woke up that morning I was feeling pretty darn bad myself. My throat hurt and I was achy but did not have a temperature. When the pediatrician said my daughter had strep I rolled my eyes heavenward. My throat was ON FIRE by then.

While waiting for her antibiotic I called my own doctor. Amazingly, they said, “Come now and we will squeeze you in.” WOW. I grabbed my daughter’s meds and off we went. And I have to say, she was so patient and so good. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful little girl.

Once I made it to the waiting room my joints were on fire and my throat felt swollen shut. I was unable to talk and swallow. I began to rock back and forth from the pain. I didn’t care who was watching or what they thought. I’ve been through natural childbirth and this was worse. Ugh.

My initial strep test was negative, but the culture may turn positive by today. I’ve had strep before and always test negative. Anyone know why? We had a three month span of strep with me being the only one without treatment. It kept coming back and back and back. When I begged/pleaded/demanded for an antibiotic despite my negative tests, everyone magically became better. So hear me now and believe me later – a negative strep does not mean you aren’t carrying it!

I’ve missed three days of work. GOOD days. Offsite days, which I LOVE. I am MAD. MAD MAD MAD. My daughter is still a bit punky but is on the road to recovery. I hope I will be too. I pray she will be on her school field trip tomorrow and I will be at work. Hope they remember me. I know they will avoid me like the plague, but that’s OK – I would do the same.

I am just amazed at how much strep hurts. The antibiotic is kicking in, thankfully. But gosh, these kids that get strep all the time… my goodness how I feel for them. It is a rotten, miserable and painful illness. I was almost panicky because my throat was so tightly shut from the swelling.

So moms and dads – if your kids get strep this school year, give them as much love and attention as you can. Cause it HURTS. <whimper….>