Yesterday the dermatologists were clueless. And fascinated. They asked to take pictures of her rash--to show their colleagues, for the good of science, to use as a lively conversation starter during happy hour at next year's American Academy of Dermatology convention in New Orleans. Perhaps Mary's leg will live on in fame within the pages of some medical mystery manual.
It is probably a virus. (I now know way more than I ever dreamed possible about the various herpes viruses, especially herpes-zoster, the one that causes shingles. I also know what a dermatome is. And with this new knowledge that I possess, I too can understand why the doctors are baffled. I also know that I cannot bear to have any wrestlers in this family. And that I will continue to bathe my children regularly.)
But it doesn't really matter what it is. Because the rash never much bothered Mary (and that is the symptom, or lack thereof, that makes this all so mysterious), and it's getting better. If you're going to have a medical mystery in the family, this is the kind to have: one that causes no discomfort and one that gets better quickly. This I can handle.
***
What is harder to handle is that Mary can open child-proofed medicine bottles.
It is also harder to handle the yogurt that Mary regularly smears all over the carpet. And because I have completely given up on feeding my children anything healthy, this yogurt is fluorescent blue (and probably radioactive).
She also took off her own poopy diaper today. On the carpet that had just been professionally cleaned just hours before. That's harder to handle.
What I can handle is dropping Mary off at school on Thursday. (It's been a long quarantine.)
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