With flu season in full force and most parts of the U.S. experiencing a mild winter it feels like no family can escape their little ones getting sick.
As children seem to bounce back so seriously we can’t always tell how sick they are as they seem okay one minute and then lying down the next.
But some parents have experienced flu-like symptoms and strange marks on their child’s face and after discovering the reason want to share their experiences with other parents to help raise awareness.
One couple from Idaho noticed a mark on their son’s face which gradually got worse. They thought his little brother has caused it but it started to get worse.
Arden and Ashlee Hawley took their son to a physician and their sick son Coop was sent home with a steroid.
But the mark got worse and the worried couple took Coop to the emergency room where doctors told him their son had a strep infection in his sinuses.
Migrated to the eyes and brain
Now Arden and Ashlee want to warn other parents that contrary to popular belief strep doesn’t just affect the throat. There are 20 different types of strep bacteria which can affect the body in different ways.
Coop is back home recovering but if his infection had gone untreated it could have migrated through the eyes and into his brain.
Another mom also took to social media to share her experience with the infection affecting her son during flu season.
The mom, who isn’t named on the Simply Real Moms’ Facebook page said when her youngest came down with a fever she thought it was the flu.
“On Thursday morning he was looking bad and I noticed weird red marks on his face,” she wrote. ” By that evening, my son was covered in a splotchy rash. I was hoping in my heart that he just had a fever rash and put him to bed.
Immediately tested for strep and flu
“When he woke up on Friday, the rash and marks on his face were still there and his fever was so hot it was hard to hold him. Even with medication he was reading at 102 degrees.”
She rushed him to the emergency room and thankfully he was immediately tested for strep throat and the flu. Both tests came back positive.
“The [doctor] said that a rash and the facial marks are common symptoms. I had NO idea and apparently, neither does anyone I’ve told over the past few days,” the mom wrote.
“I feel obligated to let other parents know about these unknown indicators that your child is suffering from strep.”
Candace Reeves McMahan, from Oklahoma, is warning parents, too, after her son’s strep got so bad he had to have surgery.
The worried mom rushed her son Luke to the hospital after his eyes started to get red and swollen. He was diagnosed with flu and strep but the infection had got so bad he had to have emergency surgery.
“Because it was in his eyes it was very close to the brain,” Candace wrote, “which is super scary!!!”
Luke recovered but will have small scars from his surgery. Candace is relieved her son is back to his “normal self.” But it took worsening symptoms, several trips to the hospital, and emergency surgery before things started improving.
“He almost looks normal and is almost back to his normal self! I believe in the power of prayer and I can’t thank everyone enough for that,” Candace said.
Now she too wants to warn other parents.
“Please share the pictures of Luke’s eyes. This may have been prevented if the diagnosis had been done earlier,” she wrote.
Thank goodness these children were treated and have recovered. And what a blessing that these brave families are sharing their experiences to help others.
This is scary stuff for parents and we all need to be informed.
Please share these important symptoms with all the parents you know.
