Mystery Diagnosis

The patient: Chase, age 7
The symptoms: Back pain when active, paleness, cough when he first woke up, asking to take (and taking) a nap for the first time in his life
The diagnosis: Strep Throat????

Yes, over the weekend Chase would stop his wild banshee actions to complain that his back hurt. He would then stop that particulart action and do something else. I thought it was a little odd but decided to just keep an eye on it. Sunday afternoon after playing at the park with friends from church he asked to take a nap. This was a huge red flag. Literally, every nap that child has ever taken has been a battle of wills between he and whomever tried to impose it.

I told Chris I was going to take him to the doctor and the entire time my mind was thinking it was something bizarre or I was totally over-reacting. I was really leaning toward the latter and thought the doctor would think I was a nut case, but my gut told me he just wasn't quite right. I sent him on to school, however, and made an appointment for late that afternoon.

We proceeded to sit in the well waiting room because in my mind we were there for bizarre, unexplained back pain, and I didn't want to pick up some other ailment. Immediately after listening to Chase breathe, our trusty Pediatrician did a strep test. She explained to me that Strep has a certain smell and she caught a whiff right away. He was, of course, positive. I was shocked. He had not run a fever or complained of a sore throat. I had sent him to church, Sunday school, the park with friends, regular school, and sat him in the well waiting room. I felt like "Typhoid Mary" from the history books. Our family has single handedly spread strep across three counties.

So, accept my advance apology if your child has crossed our path. We aren't sure if the back pain was associated with the strep or just an odd coincidence, and I will continue to monitor that. The doctor did say she had strep a few weeks ago and her back really hurt. Now I am just watching and waiting for Noel to exhibit his own weird symptoms, but maybe he will mysteriously escape the germs the same way Chase mysteriously presented them.