I'm laid up in bed with a disease I'd never heard of before this week.

I'm a teacher. Several of the kids in my classes have been sick over the past two weeks: a rash on their faces, slight fever, itchiness. Some of them were kept home by their parents, some not. I was told that they have fifth disease, or apple-cheek disease, or Erythema infectiosum, and that it's something kids get and most adults are immune to.

Not this adult, apparently.

Every joint in my body hurts. I have a fever, I can't breathe deeply. My head is clear, but I feel so sore. No itches, but apparently adults don't get that.

I want sympathy and hugs, but I'm in quarantine, so that leaves online sympathy.

Hell, Travelling Black, I'm not sure whether to congratulate you or sympathise. This is an auspicious occasion to acknowledge a previously unknown disease. On top of that you unwittingly have revealed that you've hung on to at least one aspect of your youth and maybe we should envy you that. I am at a loss as to what I can offer. Of course, if you did have the itches I could suggest you scratch. No. Sorry. Nothing I can offer to make you feel better other than to expect a better day tomorrow...maybe. Meantime, try to make the most of the few days to yourself and justr imagine how empathetic you can be when you get back to class.

I never thought of it like that. Yay, I'm still young at spleen! Or bone marrow. Or whichever part of me should have been immune to this.



There's always hope. I don't think it lasts long.



Oh, I'll be empathetic. I'll empath the whole class into a world of extra homework...
Revenge!

Thanks for the sympathy and the laugh.

Hi Travelling Blackbird, sorry to hear you are not feeling very well. After my escapades last weekend, I feel a bit more normalish, so hopefully it wont be long before you do too. And as for the homework, the more the better. My 14 year old stepson never ever gets any, I think he must eat it before he comes home or something!

hi travelling black, sorry to take your youthfullness away, but in england its known as slapped cheek syndrome and it does pass to adults, but usually without the rash and itching, it seems to effect knee wrist and elbow joins more in adults, i caught it from my nephew last year, so i sympathise with you
if its any concellation it doesnt last very long, mine took a couple of weeks to really clear, but the worst was over in the first few days, i had a bit of a problem with swelling on my elbow joint but even that had cleared in the two weeks. so hang in there, you'll soon be back on track, meanwhile heres a few hugs to keep you going!

heres couple of webb sites you might find interesting.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respir...y/parvo_b19.htm

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/fifth.html

get well soon
luv wendy

its known as slapped cheek syndrome in the UK.

Sorry you are feeling so unwell, you have my sympathy and Im sending you a hug and some cyber chocolates.

There's a movement in teaching at the moment suggesting that homework is not all that useful. Teachers are encouraged to give less... could be that. Or maybe he's made friends with one of those friendly and useful homework-eating dogs.



Thanks for the hugs. I certainly feel it in my joints. It seems the kids don't get much of the joint pain, and adults don't get much of the rash... I just have some redness, but lots of joint pain. Glad to hear it doesn't last long!
Derek.

Derek, hope you heal and feel better soon...XO Jerry

Thanks, Jerry. I'm doing my best - nothing too strenuous, plenty of rest and quiet, and waiting for the thing to run its course.
How're you doing yourself?
Derek.

TBB,
What you have is Hip-Hippus of the Hoosits.
Most common to the Mangabee Batutu tribes in lower, west, Nigeria. Right there in the upper righthand corner near Baqueteria.
And just because it doesn't itch doesn't mean ya can't scratch it. All unneeded scratching is saved up by the body's internal "hard drive" and put to use when something does itch but you're too busy to scratch it. For example, maybe you're chained up being tortured and yer butt starts to itch somethin' fierce. I kinda doubt Vinie and the boys stop what they're doin' just to bring relief to an itchy asshole like you. I mean yours. Well, anyway, you get the picture.

E-dog

p.s. get well soon

Darn kids and their international travels, bringin' back weird diseases. Mankind wasn't supposed to travel fast enough to bring weird diseases back home!



So one can have a scratch deficit or a scratch surplus! I must remember this sound advice. While I'm rarely in the torture chamber, there are those days when the boys suddenly need a good scratch right in the middle of class. There's no way to subtly deal with that.



Thanks, mate! For the wishes and the laughs.

I'm doing okay thnx, Derek. Down to one shrinking bedsore, started PT about 6 weeks ago, still to tight in my left leg to sit comfortablely, so I continue to lay about healing, exercising body, mind and spirit...and feeling extremely restless.

I seems the flu/fever I've been fighting this last two weeks has lowered my resistance/immune system just enough for my MRSA to wake up a bit, again...with any luck it's early enough to put it back into dormancy with oral meds...if not, back to dancing with Vancomycin for awhile.

Hope your ills clear up quickly and you get back to teaching soon. Be well.

Jerry

Jerry,
Oh, I hear you with the restless feelings. That's a tough one. Fingers crossed the oral meds put the MRSA back into dormancy, and get well soon.
Derek.

When my kids were little I heard of this 'disease'. I believe it is considered one of the 'childhood diseases' you know measles, mumps, chicken pox, and so on. It was the 5th one to be identified and that's how it got it's name. I think it is also called "slapped cheek" I think that is what it looks like. I think like the other childhood illnesses, it is highly contagious. It figures that adults get it worse. Be very glad you didn't get chicken pox-shingles. I understand there is a new vaccine for that out. I also have heard that kids are spreading these diseases before they, or their parents even know they have it. Since it doesn't present like the other diseases, and most folks haven't heard of it, lots of parents don't get that their child has a communicable disease. I get very red cheeks from Rosacea, and I've seen lots of little blonde kids with very red cheeks that just flush easily.

I am really, really sorry you feel rotten. It is no fun to feel so crummy.

Don't mean to change the subject, but HOMEWORK IS EVIL! I mean, if the're given time in class to di it but they don't, well then it's ok, but when the teacher decides to assign 4 pages of math just as the class ends, I never got it done. Some of us farm kids had chores and work that needed done when we got home and didn't feel like staying up till 1am doing homework. That kinda explained why my grades sucked so hard. Rarely finished the homework, but alwats aced the tests, so It wasn't like I didn't know how to do it.

Anyway, get well soon!

, get well soon !

For you and Jerry... Get well FAST!