Apparently strep throat is spreading like wild fire in Jacksonville, FL and in my house.

Here’s a link in case you have family and want to tell them to stay indoors for fear of the “strep”.

http://www.news4jax.com/health/whats-going-around/strep-throat-is-still-going-around/31983248

I haven’t had strep in years, like many many years. Probably since I was in school and I don’t remember it being this awful. The worst part is my kids had it first so while they were crying and writhing in agony I was simply pumping them full of fluids and medication, oblivious to the fiery licks of pain they were enduring in their tiny little throats. Now I am suffering the wrath of strep and literally am incapacitated. It’s like my throat is melting from the inside out and I am sucking cough drops and drinking hot tea like a frenzied animal.

Screw you strep throat. I hate you.

And C is so scared. He knows he’s on Strep’s hit list. He went out and bought 3 cans of Lysol and has been dousing the house frequently. Like that will save his soul. The odds are against him, I hate to say it. Although I’m rooting for him. Hopefully he makes it out alive, he is the worst patient. He won’t even sit next to me on the couch. Maybe I will at least lose some weight out of this torture because that’s what it is. Total Effing Torture. If I had enemies I would cough on them. It’s that bad.

It started out in such an odd manor too. O came home from school complaining that her teacher gave her hot soup that burned her throat. I know, sad right? But I thought it was odd she burned her throat and not her mouth so we asked if her mouth was ok and she said it was fine. Sign #1. doom.

Then in the middle of the night O woke up screaming in terror shriveling away from both C and I – in utter terror! It was awful. She was so hot she was hallucinating – she said we had masks on us and she didn’t know it was us. She was totally freaking me out. Sign #2. gloom.

It was all downhill from there, more fever, loss of taste of food, more fever, W then started with the fevers so we ended up going to Urgent Care Sunday because that’s a great time to go. Positive strep tests led to antibiotics, popsicles and excessive amounts of chicken soup. Or actually excessive popsicles and no chicken soup but I try to get them to eat healthy. Half way through the week cold symptoms started and the girls ended up with viruses on top of the strep. Because I can handle all that is dished out to me. (that’s what I keep telling myself at least)

I literally wanted to go back to work that’s how bad it was. Interrupted sleep, crying, fevers, diarrhea – it was like a week of a sickness hell bender.

By Thursday both girls were finally well enough to attend school the next day, Friday. Yet by some act of mother freaking nature it snowed so I got stuck in the house one more day. It was the ultimate test to my sanity.

I ended up having a wonderful sickness free weekend though. Happy children, productive activities – even went to NY Sunday for a fabulous Network workshop for the CW before I was struck down by the hand of the strep devil. Now I sit here typing in front of a heater fantasizing about chicken broth, Afrin and my heating pad.