June 16, 2006

Little Bug, Big Bite!

The mosquito is a miniscule little insect in the whole scheme of things. BUT, they sure have quite a bite! For Gavin, they cause a much bigger problem. Last week he got a bite on his inner forearm and a large splotchy pink area developed as a result. This Wednesday I noticed a large bite on his left ankle. Several hours later, it was pink and swollen all around the bite. Before bed we gave him Zyrtec (a prescription anti-histamine) and I applied some anti-itch cream. Yesterday I noticed it was so swollen he looked like a woman who was 8 mo. preggo and suffering from edema. When I touched it, it felt hot. I called Jason at church and he recommended I take him somewhere to have it checked. Since our dr.'s office is closed, I had to take him to an acute care center. I probably wouldn't have gotten an appt. in the afternoon anyway. The dr. there told me it was good I took him in and he gave him an antibiotic for infection. He also outlined the pink swollen area in pen so we would know if it was spreading.

I had talked to the allergist's nurse on Wednesday (before I discovered this bite) a/b people being allergic to mosquito bites. It actually does happen, but they do not have a test for it. She told me it is possible Gavin is b/c of the reaction he had on his forearm. The acute care dr. told me if he gets this type of reaction every time, we will then know it doesn't have to be treated. In the meantime though, he wants to treat this bite as a localized infection since it has all the symptoms of one.

I do not like using bug spray, etc., but it seems that for Gavin it will be a necessary part of being outside from now on.