Hand, Hoof, Foot, Blisters

I'm sick of typing hand, foot, and mouth. It's annoying. We're switching to HF&M.  Think of it as whatever you like, I prefer Hoof, Fin & Mittens. (or whatever)  HF&M is named for the blisters that come after the fever. They show up first in the back of the mouth, but can be anywhere in or around the mouth, and then on the soles of your feet and the palms of your hand. They can range from little red spots

Batman has spots!

To large blisters

Can you say ouch?

He had several of the big blisters around his toes and on his heels, though they're all looking remarkably better this morning.  Helli's are looking like they're going to shape up to be slightly worse. Popped blisters are contagious, as it is when they have the fever. It's most contagious when they have the fever. Then it's transmitted through all bodily secretions (doesn't that sounds pleasant?) including stool. It can actually stay in the stool for up to a week. The really fun part about HF&M though is that it's diagnosed by the blisters that don't show up until 2-3 days after the fever has gone. So they're most contagious when you have no idea what they have. In all fairness though, you shouldn't send kids with high fevers to school. It's almost always a sign they are contagious (a fever.) 

See? It's a good thing I didn't manage to post this around breakfast. 

Anyway, I went to urgent care yesterday, eventually. They did a rapid strep test, which came back negative. (There's still a 1 in 10 chance they may call me in a day or so and tell me I do have it, but I doubt it. Even if it came back in it's hard to imagine that particular place being organized enough to call me)  The doctor told me it could be HF&M, but that it was rare in adults. Not unheard of, just pretty rare. She went on to say that it could just be some mystery 3rd virus that happens to cause blisters in the back of the mouth.  ....what do you think the chances are that both my kids have HF&M, I have a "compromised immune system" and I just happened to get a 3rd random virus that just happens to come with blisters in the mouth? ...yea, I'm checking my feet hourly for spots.  The doctor seemed to think the 3rd mystery illness was really the best bet though. I was left wondering how she mastered medicine and failed statistics, but, then again, I was miserable and grumpy.