Fleas, Rashes and Emergency Departments

Ok this has officially been the week from hell. I will be glad when it's over.
Are you ready for this? Because I have to write it all down in a mega explosion of words. Expulsion, purge, detox - all those words spring to mind and I hope that it helps.
Sunday - My sweet boy Angus, throws a rock at his brother and hits him just above the eye. I take him to hospital and thankfully all he needed was a surgical plaster with a touch of glue. There was so much blood though. My heart was in my mouth.
Monday - Get home after dropping the girls at school and running a few errands. There are feathers all over the floor, the bird cage is on its side on the floor and empty. I find my poor little Sunny Boy the Canary upstairs, dead on the mat. Snuggles the kitten, has been far too interested in him and we were going to move him somewhere safer. But we were too late.
Speaking of Snuggles. When she came to us, she bought with her some free loaders. I gave her a flea bath, combed her every day with a flea comb and bought a flea collar. All of which have proved useless. She passed them on to BJ our pup and Jamaica our 16 year old cat. Within days we were getting bitten on the ankles by the little blighters. BJ is now on a spot on treatment and I am saving up for one each for the cats too. Poor little Josh is getting the worst of it. Maybe because he is the closest to the ground! I am not sure if BJ is flea free because at the moment he is a little, white, scruffy, powder puff and in desperate need of a clip.
I thought that we would be ok, as we don't have carpet in the house. Only on the stairs. But it seems that they don't really mind about that and are breeding like, well, fleas. People say to make sure that you vacuum often. But we don't have a working vacuum cleaner at the moment. Hopefully at tax time this year we can afford one.
Also on Monday I received a whopper of an electricity bill, and other bills totally about $900.00.
Tuesday - We go to Playgroup. Half way through I pick Josh up and he is burning up. He has had a cold and I assume at the time that it is related to that. So we come home and dose him up and put him to bed.
On Wednesday Joshua is covered in a red rash. Very bad between his upper thighs and on the back of his elbows. He can't even walk properly the poor munchkin.
In the mail I get my car registration for $417.75.
On Wednesday evening I notice that one of the red sores of Joshie's wrist has formed a blister.
He was vaccinated against Chicken Pox when he was 18 months old and now he has only just turned two.
Thursday - More blisters have formed. Take Josh to the doctor. He looks at the rash and doesn't know what it is. I show him the blisters and he said it looks like Chicken Pox to him. He takes a swab and we will not know the results until next Tuesday. I am doubtful if this is indeed chicken pox. There is not much on his torso and a lot on the soles of his feet and palms of his hands. Which doesn't sound very ChickenPoxish to me. I think personally it is could be Hand, Foot, Mouth disease. While that is nasty enough, it is not as bad as the Varicella Zoster virus. But then I am not a doctor, but I am a Mum.
Then the doctor drops the bombshell. Just as we were wrapping it up and getting ready to leave, he asks me, you haven't come in contact with any pregnant woman in the last few days have you? Well, that would be a big fat Yes from me. At playgroup on Tuesday there were two pregnant ladies.
The doctor talks to the nurse, and then phones the Infectious Diseases department. They talk to me and get all my details. We were there for another 35 minutes. As we leave and people in the choca-block waiting room all scowl at us as one, large grumpy mob.
Friday - Get a call from a nurse at the Infectious Diseases place and he says he will phone the school and ask them to get in contact with these ladies and ask them to go and see their doctors and maybe get a blood test as well.
So that is where I am at the moment. It is swamping me emotionally and mentally. It is all too much, and I would like it to stop now please.
Can you top my bad week? Why do we get these weeks when everything seems to be against us?
I wish you hope when things are going bad, kind words when times are sad.
I wish you shelter from the raging wind, cooling waters at the fever's end.
I wish you peace when times are hard, the light to guide you through the dark.
And when storms are high and your dreams are low, I wish you the strength to let love grow.
I Wish You Peace ~ The Eagles, 1975
Melanie