5 down, 1 to go.

The past 2 weeks have been rough on the immune systems around our house. Drew came down with a cold and sore throat but she was able to shake the sore throat after a day or two so we didn't take her to see a doctor. A couple days later Mason woke up and pretty much remained flat on his back for the next 3 days till mom finally decided to take him to Urgent Care after complaints of a sore throat, headache, horrible cough, nose bleeds, and a fine red rash. The tests came back positive for strep throat and scarlet fever. He also had an x-ray taken of his chest, which he totally loved because he could see his heart and bones, and they also threw a diagnosis of pneumonia in there for good measure. I was pretty sure Darcy had strep too, so the next day she went to see her doctor and as I pulled her sweatshirt off, the doctor and I noticed a fine red rash on her torso. Yep, scarlet fever and strep. The very next day Bree woke up with a temp of 101.8 so I took her to urgent care, and I was feeling funny in my throat so I checked us both in to be tested for strep. Neither of our tests came back positive. I was told Bree probably has a cold virus, which of course there is no medicine for for babies, so she has been suffering with her dry, barking seal coughs for days now. A couple days later, Paul started to feel under the weather. He finally got in to urgent care yesterday where he was diagnosed with pneumonia! He has been out of work for 3 days now and feeling pretty awful. As I type this I can feel a tightening in my throat. I hope it is just sympathy pains, but I wouldn't be surprised to wake up tomorrow and find myself in the same boat as the rest of the family. I am so very grateful that we live in an age where illnesses like scarlet fever and pneumonia no longer have to mean permanent damage or even death. What a blessing it is to have competent doctors and readily available medicines accessible at a moment's notice. It hasn't been an easy 2 weeks on me, or the rest who have actually suffered the sicknesses, but we are thankful for all the thoughts, prayers, and kind acts from everyone who helped us get through this mess just a little bit easier.