Heavy.

It feels like we’re pulling away from the longest week of our lives. Sounds dramatic, but it I really feel that way. I hesitated deciding whether or not to post this, since I myself am disgusted and upset and feel rather defeated considering how obsessive I am over germs and keeping my children healthy.  However, it’s happened and we’re almost done with it all, so here we go.

Over our trip to Boise for Thanksgiving, the boys were exposed to the Coxsackie A virus (i.e. the lovely hand foot and mouth disease). Morg began running a high fever last Monday when we returned home, and Danny followed suit two days later. While Morg was only feverish for twelve hours and ended up with maybe thirty blisters, Danny wasn’t so fortunate. He ran a very high fever all day and all night. He broke out in hundreds of blisters all over his sweet little body and it has been the hardest sickness to date in my motherhood book. I had to double up with alternating doses of ibuprophen and Tylenol (which I’ve never had to do before) to get his fever even manageable at 103. He had tremors and was in a lot of pain from the fever. The next morning was when he blisters formed and in a matter of an hour, they were all over his body (all around his mouth, inside his mouth, down his throat, on his hands and fingers, knees, legs, feet and diaper area. I don’t know all the scientific aspects of this virus, but it is very potent, takes a long time to run its course, and it's highly, highly contagious for an extended period of time. (Yes, we’ve been homebound going on seven long days now….). 

It's definitely been the most difficult sickness we've had to see our children go through. It's been really hard to feel so helpless and to have no choice but to sit back and see them fight through it, with very little we could do. We have relied strongly on each other, prayer and the Priesthood, and as I’ve reflected over the last week, I can say I have a greater respect and care for those parents who have children who struggle daily with health problems and incurable diseases. What a heartbreaking trial to have to bear. And on the other side of things, how clear it is to me that our bodies are such miracles. God is in us. He hears us and heals us if we reach for Him.

Morgan’s body healed itself in such a swift time (his sores are all but gone now), and Danny has been such a trooper. His body is working hard to recover and he gets better every day. I love these little men with my whole heart. I’m so thankful to be their mother. I’m so thankful to be the one who they cling to when they are sick. What a privilege, even when the intensity feels like it’s breaking me.

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I want to list several homeopathic formulas that I feel helped ease this sickness tremendously. I feel I should pass along what I found was helpful for us, since there is literally nothing but Tylenol that doctors recommend.     

-Propolis Plus is a liquid formula that we are never without. I give it to my kids and take it myself anytime we have any sort of sickness. I started Morg right on it the moment I realized he was running a fever. Danny, as well. I give them several doses a day. You can buy it here.

-Lukewarm baths with coconut oil, tea tree oil and lavender oil. I made sure I bathed Danny's face several times with the bath water, as well. I’ve been bathing him once daily with this mixture of oils and it has helped a lot with the blisters. You can buy all three of these oils at Fred Meyer. I also bought a milk/oatmeal bath powder packet at Fred Meyer with helichrysum.

-Cuts and Bruises Oil (buy it here) and Emu Oil (Fred Meyer?) used topically several times a day on blistered areas.

-Anti-plague (a liquid anti-viral formula, buy it here) several times a day.   

I also want to express how thankful we’ve been for all the extra prayers that have been said for our little guys. Kenzie was so sweet to put Danny’s name on the prayer roll, as well. And I’m continually thankful for my relationship with my cousins who are always lending support and advice when it comes to health things (and motherhood in general), and shoulders to cry on, even from a few hundred miles away.   

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I took these on Sunday (sick day #4 for Danny), 

when he was feeling a little better and looking much better than he did when he first broke out.

I say, "Show me your hands!" and he says, "See?!".

Then I say, "Show me your mouth!", and he opens wide like a hippo. The child is a ham.