Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Staph Staph Go Away

I thought Rapunzel's staph was clearing up.  She had only a couple spots left that were healing.  Then this morning, she woke up and had them all over her left leg.




We had bible study and piano lessons this morning, so I covered her in Mupirocen and wrapped her leg.  Just as a side note - every dr. she's seen for her staph has said that she can continue daily out-of-the-house activities, as long as the spots are covered, without fear of spreading it.  So we packed up and headed to church.  After church we got lunch and then went to the allergist office for their weekly allergy shots.  While there, I called the pediatrician's office and made an appt. immediately following to get her checked out.  They looked her over and cultured the spots (just to be sure) and put her on antibiotics.  So hopefully it will all clear up for good now!  We're upping her bleach baths to everyday until she's 100% clear.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Summer Bucket List

In honor of the first official day of summer approaching (Friday, June 21), I have compiled our Summer Bucket List for 2013.  I'm not a fan of summer.  Gasp, I know.  But I don't enjoy the heat.  We don't have freezing winters here that leave us longing for warmer days.  We have cool winters that leave us dreading the heat of the summer.  But I am a positive person on the whole, so I try to make the best of summer!  We take the lemons of summer, and make lemonade! (literally)

SUMMER BUCKET LIST 2013

Make homemade lemonade
Plant an herb garden
Have a Movie Night Campout in the living room, to include:
-making tents with sheets/blankets
-roasting weinies and s'mores (with homemade marshmallows) on the stove
-watching a movie
Join summer reading clubs at the library and bookstore
See a Summer Movie
Let the kids paint canvases to hang on the wall
Take pics of kids by state welcome signs
Take fun/silly pics on the beach
Let the kids make garden stones for our flower beds

Friday, June 14, 2013

Staph & Sun

One of the biggest issues we have to deal with, with Rapunzel's eczema, is staph.  It's highly colonized on the skin of eczema patients.  That's why we do bleach baths.  Upping her bleach baths to 3 times a week has greatly reduced her staph infections.  In fact, since we went to 3 times a week, I don't think she'd had one single staph infection.  Until this past week.  Since we've been at the pool so often, between swimming lessons and playtime, I had cut back on her bleach baths.  I thought that the chlorinated water was a good enough substitute.  I'd read all about how swimming in a chlorinated pool was good for kids with eczema because it helped to kill the bacteria... just like a bleach bath.  Turns out, that was a BIG MISTAKE.  Rapunzel started getting little staph spots and it took a lot of work to get them to heal, and stop spreading.  She had them all up and down her arms and legs.



When I first noticed the spots, I immediately reinstated her bleach baths and started putting Mupirocen on the spots.  It took a few days for there to not be any new spots appearing.  I was one day away from taking her to the dr. to get antibiotics.  I am so glad we were able to get it under control before that!

Her skin had been looking so good for several weeks before this breakout.  Staph not only leaves ugly marks like that on her skin, but it also causes her eczema to flare-up in general.  I'm hoping that now that her staph is under control and healing, her skin will clear up as well.  Lesson learned:  No skipping bleach baths!

We'll still be spending plenty of time at the pool this summer, we just won't forego the bleach baths to do so.

She's working on a pretty little tan afterall!
Just as a side note:  We are really loving the Vanicream Sunscreen!  It's creamy and not lotiony like most sunscreens, titanium and zinc oxide based, and doesn't burn her skin!  All the other kids are using Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby.  I like it a lot too.  It's lotiony, but is also titanium and zinc oxide based.  They all have really prominent tan lines now!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

WE DID IT!!!

Yesterday was the Itching for a Cure Eczema walk, and our virtual walk team, Let's Not Be Rash, didn't just reach our goal.  We exceeded it!!!  THANK YOU to everyone that donated to our team.  The National Eczema Foundation raised over $75,000 to improve the quality of life for eczema patients and their families.  We are so thrilled that we were able to be a part of that!