The Best Thing I Did On My Vacation

At the risk of providing too much personal family information...

Last Sunday, Lydia woke up with odd red markings all over her body. I called it a "stigmata", Terri called it a "rash". While Lydia's mood didn't seem to be at all affected by the unsightly raised red splotches, as new parents we kind of freaked out. On Monday, the holiday, we took Miss Lydia to the walk-in clinic, to wait in line with every other baby in the HRM apparently. Several hours later, the incredible Dr. Terse gave us two minutes of his precious time to scribble out a prescription and advise us that it was "classic hives" from some allergic reaction, before leaving in a puff of cartoon smoke. The bulk of our questions and concerns fell on deaf ears, or rather, were voiced to an empty office while the good doctor briskly strode away in his expensive shoes, checking his expensive watch. Fine. Whatever. We were somewhat relieved...

...until several days later, when said "classic hives" situation had still not resolved itself. Ugh. Each morning, Little Miss woke with new red splotches - on her face, arms, legs, back, feet, everywhere. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad tried to pinpoint what it was in her daily diet that was causing this outbreak. Clearly we were unsuccessful. And so later in the week, Terri took her to our family doctor who offered little new insight save for some reassuring words. We still had no idea if each new outbreak was due to another exposure to the mysterious responsible allergen, or if the medication was safe to use long term, or how we could determine the allergen, etc. Everyone was frustrated except Lydia, who only suffered a few unwanted rides in the car, some additional poking and prodding, and the drowsiness from the prescribed anti-histamine.

Fast-forward to yesterday morning, when Lydia awoke early with the worst case of the hives yet, and overtired, and with a new tooth tearing through her gums, and realllly pissed off. Enough of this shit - to the hospital we go. I think we had put off actually hitting up the IWK Emerg for fear that we would be there for hours and hours, screwing up her schedule, and potentially making her more sick from exposure to all of the other snotting and sneezing kiddies. Turns out these concerns were unfounded, as we were the only people in admittance (Parents note - if possible, wait until Sunday mornings to take your kids to the hospital; I advise using balled-up sweatshirt tourniquets and hockey-stick splints in the interim). One half hour later and we were speaking to a friendly and actually helpful medical professional who was able to allay our fears, answer our questions, explain what the problem was, give me a killer back massage, and lend us several hundred thousand dollars to pay off our mortgage.

In conclusion (read on if you care): no, each new outbreak was not due to a new exposure; no, it may not be a food-based allergen and is likely from an insect bite; no, do not alter her diet or routine; yes, the anti-histamine is safe for prolonged use. Things will clear up eventually. Here, have a Reese cup and a coffee.

Yes, the best thing I did on my vacation was go to the hospital. It's too bad we waited until the LAST day of my vacation to do so. Much stress could have been avoided. Blurg.