Ant Bites - Day 2: We went to the Doctor

Last night, Paul Thomas woke up around 11:30 crying and I gave him another Benadryl melt-away tablet and then put some Benadryl cooling gel on his feet and legs and THANKFULLY I thought to find some tube socks of Nora's to put on him in hopes of him leaving the bumps alone. I was happy to see that he woke up with them still on.

"Here Daddy - let me give you a shot in the head with my toy doctor's kit shot!"

David got home last night from a weekend trip home to Kentucky to visit family and then business in Nashville, TN Monday & Tuesday. It was a little after midnight when I heard the garage door open up so he didn't get to see the kids last night at all... and then today, he woke up and left for work before the kids woke up - so after one of his "off site meetings" this morning - he dropped by the house to see the kids and say hello and also to check on Paul Thomas. I had not removed his socks until David got home around 11:00am.

Last night, we had text messaged back and forth about Paul Thomas - I had told him it was bad... and I had told him there were probably over 100 bites... but I don't think David really expected to see this... WOW.

....and just as I thought the raised bumps aka blisters had surfaced this morning when he woke up. :( I knew the photos I posted last night didn't show you good just how many bites he had but these photos will show you. Each blister = a bite. Easily over 100! I can count over 30 in the photo below of just the back side of the heel of his foot!

Thankfully the GOOD NEWS was that today Paul Thomas could walk and it didn't seem to bother him to do so! His feet were still swollen a little but not nearly as much as they were last night!

Also while David was home this morning he thought we should call the Dr's office - just to make sure we were doing everything possible to help Paul Thomas and to see if there was anything else we should be concerned about or on the lookout for as far as infection. So I called and they said to bring him right on it and that the Dr would see him right away. Great! David stayed at home with the girls while I took him.

Blood pressure, temperature all normal... ;)

He took along his lunch box with Nora's Leapster game system - only the battery was dead on it. Bummer! :( At least he had fun lining them up and counting them as we waited for just a short while.

I asked if the socks were a good thing? or should I be letting the blisters air out? and she said that I was doing the right thing to try to help keep them clean and also to protect them from any friction that might cause the blisters to pop. She said that the longer we can keep them from popping the better chance of less itching and pain. The white you see inside the blisters are the body's white blood cells that have formed to fight off the ant's poison.

She said that using big sister's socks was extra smart, so that they stay covered all the way up the leg but aren't too tight against his skin. ;) and lucky for us right now Paul Thomas thinks he's a real cool soccer player and wants to keep them on all the time!

She gave me a steroid cream to use on him twice a day and I let her look at the Benadryl Gel that I had bought last night that has a cooling sensation and she said that would be great to use also if he starts to itch but for now to use the steroid cream for the next 4 days or until the blisters pop. Once they start popping to only apply it on the ones that have not. Then to prevent any infection she wanted to go ahead and get him stared on an antibiotic twice a day.

She told me some signs to look for in case he gets infection and that if I could to keep him indoors for the next week. We also talked about potty training and she thought it would be a good idea to take a break this week. I can't imagine the burning that the pee pee run down his legs would cause on those blisters *ouch*...not to think about the washing off and cleaning and reapplying of the steroid cream each time - so WHEW, I'm more than happy to take a break for a few days.

This was him on the way to go to the doctor and I could not make him understand why we were not wearing his sandals.. he loves his shoes and is always the fist one to have his on when we are getting ready to go somewhere... but this time I was sure they would be uncomfortable - that is ***IF*** we could even get them strapped down... but I didn't even bother. Didn't want to risk it.

Back at home - he was happy to see "Wah-Wah" again and joined her for some book reading time in the window...

Well since we are taking a "BREAK" from potty training and he needs to take it easy on his activity level to avoid popping any of the blisters, then why not let him play "dress up" with his sisters... I know it's a gymnastics suit - but hey, at least it's BLUE right? :0)

Here's hoping that tomorrow he wakes up to some improvement.... but somehow I have a feeling that it's gonna be the worst day yet - especially if those blisters start poppin... :(

I'll keep you posted.