To take my pox ridden ds on public transport

[veryworriedme]

am feeling a bit sorry for myself and my ds and so wonder if this has made me very selfish. My ds aged 2 has been in a hip spica cast from his chest to his ankles for the last month which has been tough. Now he has chicken pox. My dd has not yet come out in any spots but I kept her away from activities just in case she is infectious. However, I have taken my ds on the bus as it's about the only thing he can enjoy at the moment. This was in fact an empty bus and I would not have got on it if we could not have kept away from people or if there were children but the bus, but that's not really the point is it - there could be a pregnant woman for example. Is keeping him at home or just walking outside the only decent and responsible thing to do?

You took your infectious child on public transport?

Do you really need to ask if that was selfish?

When DS had chickenpox and was towards the feeling-better end but still poxy, my HV suggested that I took him or a walk to the shops and back (in a pram) to keep me sane. I don't think going on an empty bus is really any different?

I'm not going to judge because I don't have a child in a full body cast and can't imagine how awful that is.

Bugger. In my defence it was an empty bus but it got me thinking about what was and was not acceptable.a

I have just taken a call from my nurse to tell me my blood count is low (I am undergoing chemo). I was wondering if it would be ok to go for a walk or something without risking my immunity. Now I see posts like this , I suppose I better stay home . After all it is apparently too much to follow normal quarantine procedures .

Have my first

Walk is one thing - you can avoid other people. People get on the bus ...

So would you have got off immediately as soon as anybody else got on? Never mind that you were 10 stops away from your house? And what if the bus driver has a low immune system/has never had chickenpox/is pregnant but not obviously?

You can't guarantee that you did no harm so, yes, it was selfish.

Selfish, truly selfish.

The thing is, you really don't know if someone you might encounter on your travels is in the early stages of pregnancy or has immune system problems and so it really is very selfish to take a kid with CP out when they are still infectious. I don't care what a HV said, she was wrong.

Yes, yabu as evidenced by above post.

What manic said- I look normal at minute. And hard as I might try to avoid public transport , If I need to get into hospital quickly (because of my immunity issues) or is the quickest way.

I took my poxy child to the shops today. Desperately needed essentials. He has scabbed over and according to the NHS is no longer contagious. But I got some truely filthy looks from people of all ages.

Did you stop him from touching anything on the bus, anything at all? Chickenpox is very contagious and can hang around on surfaces for some time after they've been in contact with the carrier.

So I'm sorry, and it does sound horrendous what you're dealing with, but YABU - please don't do it again!

OP, how do you know your ds has pox if there are no spots? Maybe its a false alarm.

Oops, sorry re - read properly. Your ds def has the pox. Has he scabbed? or still at the weeping blishery stage?

People with lowered immune systems, early pregnant and those undergoing chemo can have serious and fatal reactions to the chickenpox virus. A young family member of mine was undergoing chemo, encountered chickenpox and died as they couldn't fight it off. Due to someone "not thinking" that their infectious child shouldn't be in wards of a hospital.
I dont care if your doctor, nurse or next door's dog assures you that it's right to take them out. It's not. You keep them in till spots scab over completely.
I know what it's like to have stay in, my dd and myself had them one after the other, but we stayed in so we didn't infect anyone.

Sorry but too risky, I am stuck at home this week with a poxy DD1 and this is after spending a week in hospital with a sick DD2. I understand your frustration but could not live with the possibility of infecting a vulnerable adult or child. In fact I am so worried about who she may have infected in the days before the spots appeared, have phoned everyone I spoke to or saw last week including doctors surgery and hospital.

Thank you MrsTerryPratchett for trying to understand why one may do more selfish things while desperate. After a month of having to lie on a beanbag or in his buggy he is pretty miserable and now with the chicken pox more so. I was walking him past the bus stop with him yelling "wanna get on the bus!". I asked the male bus driver if that was ok and he said yes. I was only going for one stop so we could walk back so I cannot honestly say what I would have done if someone had got on. The replies have given me a reality check though so it won't come up again. I am sorry Gigondas that you are going through chemo. Best of luck to you.

Yabu. I do have sympathy for you as things have obviously been tough but please don't do this again.

Selfish and irresponsible, and even worse because you knew it was the wrong thing to do before, but you did it anyway, then came on here hoping to be excused.

I agree with the majority - selfish and irresponsible.

Apart from being pregnant/chemo/low immune system (I have the last... and it's a real pain), what about people who might catch it and were due to go on holiday, and have to cancel... or are due to go in for an op, and have to reschedule... the ramifications are too numerous to mention.

As a childminder I take cross contamination very seriously, and do what I can with those I care for. I wish others did the same.

Sorry for all you are going through but still a daft idea. DS regulary ends up on steroids which make him immuno compressed and would mean we have to avoid chicken pox as it would be dangerous. Compared to some that is nothing though and often it is those who are already most vulnerable and suffering who are put at greater risk by people who feel sorry for their own child being bored. Sod the child who will have to spend months in isolation as so many with cancer and things do.

A week of staying in may be a pita for you but it could save someone else's life