Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

After doing more research on the CDC website and talking to the school nurse (who is an R.N.), we decided that the boys all had an unusually mild case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD). This is not to be confused with Hoof & Mouth Disease, which only affects animals.

Anyway, the boys got the fever and malaise for one day, and two days later got the rash, but then the disease promptly ended its attack. Usually, the spots turn into blisters, and they're usually, as the name suggests, all over the feet, hands, and inside the mouth. Thankfully, the boys just got spots on their legs and around their mouths. No blisters at all!

The oddest thing is that Jared's feet hurt at night, enough to wake him up at 2am, but no blisters ever erupted.

We've been cautious, not wanting to spread this around. We know it can be miserable, even though it wasn't for us. So we kept Jared home from school this whole week, because HFMD is very contagious for a whole week after the onset of fever. The school nurse said that the school policy is that the mouth blisters must be healed before a child can return to school, and since Jared never got any, he was welcome to come back. That doesn't make sense to me, so we kept him home anyway. But today was a fun Thanksgiving feast & activity day, so we took him to school just for the festivities.

Luckily, it's turned cold and blustery, so we don't mind staying indoors, watching movies, and making crafts. And sipping hot cider! Yum!