Well, only Lola is currently symptomatic but, given that they have been sharing bed, bath, and all their time together, Neve is certain also to be incubating a fine batch of varicella zosta.
It all started, classically, as a rash of spots concentrated on the torso and head. For a couple of days, we watched the rash grow and wondered vaguely about getting a doctor to identify it (Google being conspicuous by its absence). We weren’t too bothered, though, as Lola seemed otherwise fine: no malaise, no fever, and reporting no negative sensation from the spots.
Why it didn’t occur to us to think of chicken pox, I don’t know, but it was immediately obvious to the doctor we took her to on Saturday. She came out with a prescription for a bunch of Italian pharmacuticals: calpol, anti-histamine drops and an emollient anti-itch cream that has, apparently, superceded camomile lotion. We didn’t fulfil the script that day, as Lola was feeling so well — we thought we’d wait and see how it went. Whcih was a decision which looked pretty stupid at 1am when we were struggling to cope with a tormented Lola and a highly wakeful Neve.
Yes, the itching turned itself on with a vengeance, waking Lola a couple of hours after she’d gone to bed on Saturday night. She was yelling and crying and writhing about for hours while we impotently stayed with her, unable to offer much relief but able at least to distract with stories and songs. Of course, all the kerfuffle woke Neve, too, and, eventually, it was she who stayed awake the longest.
Continue reading A pox on both my girls!