Erythema Multiforme

Ever heard of it? Neither had I before today. On Monday night some friends of ours invited us to a cookout in the canyon. There were tons of mosquitoes there and even though we covered the kids in bug spray Deacon woke up with about 30 bites (well, what we thought were bites). I took him to the doctor and he said that he most likely had an allergic reaction to the bug bites and he prescribed some anti-histamine medication. This is what he looked like on Tuesday morning.

Day one...

The spots looked to me (and apparently to the doctor) like inflamed bug bites. So when I went to get him up the next morning I was really surprised at how the rash had spread.


Day Two...

So of course I took him back in to the doctor and he told me that it's most likely an allergic reaction to the antibiotics he'd been taking for his ear infection. He told me to throw away the Amoxicilan and start giving him oatmeal baths twice a day and doses of anti-histamines every 6 hours. I am disturbed that he has had an allergic reaction, but I'm feeling better...thinking that at least I can do something for him. Then, this morning he wakes up and his entire face is covered in welt-like rashes. They looked like big swollen targets. This time I took him to a different doctor, just to see what they thought it could be.

Day 3 (this morning)

So on my third office visit, three different doctors came in to take a look at the rash. The third doctor was the head of the ER. He took one look at it and said it was Erythema Multiforme. He said that it could have been caused by the antibiotics, but that most likely it is just a virus (non-contagious) and this is Deacon's auto immune systems way of reacting to the virus. He said it is pretty harmless (it doesn't hurt or itch) but to watch it closely because in extreme cases it can turn into something called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome which is really scary and can sometimes be fatal. All in all it has been a roller coaster the last few days. The rash is supposed to clear up in a week or two, but they said it might come back sporadically.

There is nothing worse than having a sick baby and not being able to do anything for him. Here's a picture of him this afternoon. Of course he's smiling. He is such a sweet boy.