Parotitis

Parotitis is an inflammation of the parotid glands, which are large salivary glands located in front of each ear. A bacterial infection is known as Parotitis and a viral infection is known as Mumps, which is extremely rare for those who have been vaccinated.

Call me crazy, but I always enjoy learning about these different ailments and how magnificent the body is - maybe one day I'll return to school and get my RN???

Ok, so in my last entry I mentioned that there was one in every family - the one that always gets sick and gets the weird ailments. Growing up, that was me. Now, unfortunately for him, that is Daegan. Lucky for me, he is tough as nails. We were just at the doctor Tuesday because I feared he had strep throat. He didn't, only a virus that needed to run it's course. He has felt fine the last few days and now he has bacterial infection in his parotid gland. He was complaining yesterday afternoon(and he never complains) that it hurt to open his mouth. By dinner I noticed it looked a little swollen and by bedtime it seemed a little more swollen and he screamed when I tried to touch it. By this morning it was very swollen, almost like he didn't have a jawline. I took him back to the doctor and they said he has Parotitis. He gets to 'enjoy' a round of antibiotics and that should take care of it. Thankfully, he isn't contagious. Even so, I'm washing all the sheets and Lysoling some common play areas. Of course, I had to get a picture. You can only sorta see it here. It is his right side (left side looking at him). His poor little ear is pushed up a little from the swell and his neck line is quite impressive on that side. The Dr. said on a scale of 1-10, his swelling is about an 8, it may get up to a 9 before the medicine kicks in, but if it gets to a 10 or 11 (yes, out of 10) and the pain becomes unbearable, we needed to take him the ER for IV meds.

We really know how to start off the summer! Last year Mollee's tonsillectomy and this year Daegan's Parotitis.

Ahh! The joys of parenthood!