After the party – How to handle the pox
By Lucky Tomaszek
In February, I shared with you all my friend Jesi’s successful quest to expose her two children to the chicken pox. The reactions I received from people were wildly varied, with some readers telling me about the chicken pox parties they had when their own children were young and others telling me that they unequivocally believe in the advances brought to us by mandated vaccination. The one common thread, however, was a memory of someone completely covered in pox and how awful it was.
Most of the time, chicken pox is a minor illness that causes fairly minor discomfort. This is not always the case, however, as my own family discovered just days before my last column was published. My oldest daughter, Lena, woke up on a Sunday morning with three chicken pox on her belly and one on her scalp. She was running a low-grade fever and had the sniffles. We had exposed her to a young neighbor 23 days before this and I had assumed that it was going to pass her by again, as the incubation period is typically 14 to 21 days. In a rather self-congratulatory way, I picked up some colloidal oatmeal bath packets and Calamine lotion and prepared to spend a day or two comforting her through the worst of it.
The typical varicella routine unfolds like this: one to two days of a low grade fever, the sniffles and maybe some coughing before any pox are seen; one to two days with the same symptoms and with pox erupting on the scalp and on the torso; one to two days of getting new pox; a couple final days of the pox crusting over and forming scabs. Pretty straightforward, right? Not this time.
By Sunday night Lena’s fever had gone up to 103, where it stayed for four days. Each day, more than a hundred new pox appeared. She was exhausted, listless and had very little appetite.
Party favors
It didn’t take long to realize that colloidal oatmeal and Calamine lotion were not going to cut it. I turned to parents who had dealt with the pox for advice.
One of the first things suggested was making Lena some Jell-o. I don’t usually keep that stuff in the house but my friend was right, Lena needed something. For about two days, it was one of the only things she could eat, and it even tasted good to her.
The colloidal oatmeal baths were also soothing but were made even better by making an oatmeal pouch for her to rub on her itchiest spots by filling a washcloth with oats and tying it off with a rubber band. Since the goal is to dry out the pox, it’s important to get your child dry as soon as he or she gets out of the tub. A friend said she used a hair dryer, but her kids are a lot smaller than Lena and I couldn’t seem to get her dry while also keeping her warm enough, especially since she was also running a fever.
Four days after the first chicken pox appeared was the very worst for Lena. She was miserable in every possible way: itchy, achy, stuffy-headed, with a persistent cough and fever. By this point, she had well over 500 chicken pox and even crying was painful. I called a good friend who is also a homeopath and told her what we were dealing with. She recommended Rhus Tox, available in health food stores. She recommended three to six pellets three or four times that day. The remedy was key to Lena turning the corner on the virus. She felt a little better about 20 minutes after the first dose and continued to improve slowly through the night. By morning, her fever had broken and she was able to sit up, eat a meal and enjoy watching television.
Playing it safe
During the week Lena was sick I was also in contact with our family physician, who reviewed symptoms over the phone and assured me that everything seemed to be normal. Lena was older than many kids who come down with chicken pox and that may have contributed to its severity. It is also important to let your doctor know about a case of chicken pox because he or she will report it to the Department of Health and will be able to monitor the progress of the virus and make recommendations as necessary.
The final thing I was reminded of during Lena’s bout with the pox was the occasional validity of over the counter medicines for symptom relief. I don’t typically treat fevers in the kids unless they go over 103 or are keeping them awake at night. But in this instance Lena was so miserable that we used ibuprofen to make her more comfortable. Additionally, there was one night when I found a children’s allergy medicine with diphenhydramine in it to relieve her itchiness and promote good sleep. These were both effective for making her feel a little better and, in all honesty, for making me feel a little better too. VS
