My wonderful daughter is 14 months old. She is growing well (50th percentile for weight and 90th for height). She is meeting milestones (walking, babbling a ton, says a few words, loves to play, very engaged with us, responds to her name, points and other gestures, etc). She is generally a very happy toddler who is also very opinionated and will let you know immediately about her displeasure or disagreement with something haha.
She's pretty healthy too. Never been on antibiotics, never had an ear infection, only a couple mild fevers in her entire life. She's had roseola once, norovirus once, and a couple of colds in her life. She started daycare 2 months ago.
BUT, she has mild to moderate eczema on her face and hands. We finally found a great routine that works for her at home. But at daycare she constantly has flares because the daycare provider can't be as vigilant as us (it's just not possible with watching multiple kids). This is issue 1. Issue #2 is that she gets cold sores and herpetic whitlow (HSV-1 on the finger). I gave her this virus when she was 3 months old. Her initial infection was fine actually. Uncomplicated. Quite a few sores and blisters around her mouth, but no fever, was acting happy and like herself etc. Never hospitalized. And it resolved in 2 weeks.
But she gets constant outbreaks now. Whenever she gets a trigger it's like a guaranteed outbreak. Triggers include another virus (and she's in daycare....) so she's had an outbreak with roseola, norovirus and a cold. Travel can also be a trigger and she had an outbreak after we returned from travelling to a tropical destination (3 hour time difference, 4 hour flight).
Her first couple of outbreaks were very big and scary looking. They have gotten smaller now and more superficial. A few of her outbreaks were so small most people would have though they were rashes unless they knew her HSV history. Some outbreaks are more noticeable. Right now she was having an eczema outbreak on her face and then got a cold (eczema is another trigger) so got a cold sore and herpetic whitlow. She's acting fine and happy.
We have spoken to the doctor who basically gave us a rpescription for acyclovir with refills on it so we can call the pharmacy whenever she has an outbreak.
I can't do this. I am SO terrified of her future. Of her life. Will she die? I am so scared she has an underlying issue with her immune system thats causing these frequent outbreaks. How long does she have left ? When will I lose her? I can't stand it. I am a good mom but I am almost trying to mentally distance myself from her because I am so scared of losing her. How do parents with chronically sick kids deal with it?! I am struggling so much. She has her 15 month appointment coming up in a few weeks so I will bring it up again then but I am sooooo terrified.