J had shots at his checkup yesterday, right? Last night the spot where he got the shots was a little red, a little swollen - not a big deal, I figured three shots might have that effect. I didn't notice anything this morning (OK, bad mom, I didn't even think to look), but tonight when we were getting ready for bed I noticed that the area is now a red, raised welt about the size of a coffee cup (!!!), with a couple of smallish blisters (the largest is about the size of a pencil eraser). I know he had the DTaP and MMR vaccines, and I think the third may have been chicken pox (that or polio - again, take my good parent card away, I forgot to note exactly which shots he got - that's why the doctor's office keeps records, right?). I do plan to call his pediatrician tomorrow and ask if I should be concerned. From what I've read, and given the fact that he isn't acting at all sick in any other way (no fever, no unusual increase in sleep - I read that and thought, oh, I can only wish he'd ever sleep a little bit extra for any given reason! - no change in eating habits, no unusual irritability), I think that at least the redness and swelling may be a normal reaction to one of the vaccines. The only thing I've read that concerns me is that, if it's chicken pox, anyone who reacts to the vaccine by breaking out with blisters should stay away from people who may be vulnerable to the virus (i.e., kids at daycare, perhaps?) until the blisters crust and heal. !!! OK, no one even mentioned that. I can assume that the other kids in his class have had the vaccine and therefore might not be considered vulnerable to the virus. But if that is in fact what these blisters are, a reaction to the chicken pox vaccine, it would have been nice to have this mentioned to me. He did complain of itching, so I gave him a dose of Benadryl, hoping to keep him from scratching the area.
Hell. That's all I need, another reason to have to ask for time off work. At least K and I have both had chicken pox.
No comments:
Post a Comment