Shingles!

And not the kind that go on your house! Brody was sick all weekend, however, I never thought much of it since some bug has been going around again. I had also noticed on Friday night that he had a little scab-looking spot on his upper arm. I figured someone at daycare scratched him but kids play and he's bound to come home with a bump or scrape, so once again, I wasn't worried about it. Today, Dusty brought him to my office and showed me his arm. What I thought looked like dry skin on Monday night now looked like more of a rash working from his shoulder towards his elbow. Dusty took him to the nurse practitioner at the hospital and they suggested he go see the dermatologist. After multiple calls back and forth to me at work, the health department, and each other, the dermatologist determined that he probably has shingles or a cold sore of the skin. However, you treat both the same. What turned into a trip for a rash of some sort, has turned out to be quite an adventure for Dusty, Brody, and myself today! The doctor said start using the medicine immediately and keep him away from babies and pregnant women for 48 hours, soooo....looks like Brody can go back to the babysitter on Monday!

Why I love Fort Madison Community Hospital: Dusty left my office at 1:30 and by 3:30 had driven 45 minutes to Ft. Madison; seen the nurse practitioner; seen a dermatologist; and was headed to the pharmacy with a prescription. That's pretty darn good for 2 hours worth of time! If we would have gone to the local doctor, he would have probably still been in the doctor's office and been referred to a dermatologist to see sometime next week. This just reaffirms my decision to not use our local doctors anymore. Traveling to Ft. Madison means it is a little more expensive with gas and the doctor is usually a little higher priced, BUT it means that we are out less time of sitting and waiting which is worth a LOT with a 2 year old! Oh yeah. The hospital system has an efficient billing system that doesn't charge you late fees before they have even submitted the bill to your insurance company. That means less hassle and lower blood pressure on my part because I don't have to haggle and argue with the doctor's office. It's a win-win situation as far as I am concerned!