EEEEWW!!!!!

No – nothing gross about this one – a little chocolate never hurt anyone

This certainly doesn’t offend, what’s cuter then a kid who’s just learned how to empty a sippy cup?

After you realize this is not a scene from "Nightmare on Elm Street", but rather the end result of a chocolate raspberry pudding pie that Gracie and I made, this isn’t so bad either
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Now this is what I’m talking about.

That’s right, one last gift that keeps on giving from the Eagle’s Nest : Scabies!! Yuck!!

Danny has been itchy and rashy since the day we brought him home. At first I thought it was just dry bumpy skin. So did our doctor.

After a couple weeks she had us treat it more aggressively with hydrocortisone and anti-itch cream plus a super-duper moisturizer.

Still, no resolution… Then I read an article about Scabies in the New York Times. The article talked about how often they’re mis-diagnosed when someone living in a group home type setting comes by them honestly if you know what I mean.

I asked our doctor, she and a colleague looked at the rash and said it was definitely not Scabies.

Fortunately we had an appointment at the adoption clinic this week also. One look from across the room and the doctor diagnosed Scabies. She said that while she’s seen it hundreds of times, most pediatricians have never seen this in American kids. It is very frequently misdiagnosed.

What does that mean for us? We’re all slathered with “kill-cream” as I speak. Tomorrow we shower and then the laundry begins. EVERYTHING has to be washed. Stuffed animals, bedding, clothes…everything. There are three ways to kill these nasty beasties: hot water wash followed by a hot dryer; freeze for 24 hours; seal in a plastic bag for two weeks to let mites and eggs die. Oh how I wish we were in the middle of our great northland winter! I could just put everything outside for a night.

I have giant leaf bag after giant leaf bag in the basement filled with clothes, bedding, pillows, puppets, dolls and of course thousands of stuffed animals!

All summer I've been hanging clothes on the line to save money and energy and in one day of laundry I'm blowing it all!

The upside is that this is not a very contagious disease. Prolonged skin-to-skin contact, or prolonged contact with something that the infected person has had prolonged contact with such as bedding are the primary culprits.

The other good thing is that hopefully we know the cause of Danny’s frequent night waking. Poor kid. Gordon was reading that after two weeks the pain of Scabies, which intensifies at night, makes sleep almost impossible. Yes, we know this.

Danny and Gracie are lubed up with permethrin cream and drugged with Benadryl. I am leaving little greasy fingerprints on the keyboard. Hopefully tomorrow will be a mite-free day!

I’ve e-mailed friends I know who have recently come home from Guatemala with their children. But if you know someone else who may be in the same situation, please let them know. Further information on this pesky problem can be found at: www.med.umn.edu/print/peds/iac/scabies.html

We might be hippies, but trust me - we bathe regularly!