"The Strep has Spoken"

When contestants are voted off the island on NBC’s popular show,  Survivor, host Jeff Probst snuffs out the voted-off cast member’s torch saying, “The tribe has spoken.”

Well, this week was like a game of Survivor in my home, except the game was trying to escape strep throat from striking us all down, rather than seeing who could “outwit, outplay, outlast” on a deserted island, like on the popular TV show.

One by one, though, we were snuffed out by strep.

“The strep has spoken,” said my friend John, a former Survivor fan. Although John no longer watches the show — sick of all the drama and foolishness, he claims — I still watch sometimes with my kids. So, when he said that, I laughed out loud as I pictured a large strep virus voting us ill, one by one.

First it was my 11-year old daughter, Emily. She had a miserable cold lasting several days. Nasty tissues overflowed from every trash can as she sniffled, coughed and snuffled her way to school and dance, not feeling quite bad enough to miss school or activities.

Last Friday Em stayed home from school, but then rallied over the weekend. We thought she was getting better. Monday morning she woke up saying her head ached, yet off she went to school. Tuesday was more of a struggle, with her calling me at work to come get her right at the end of school, rather than staying for her usual afternoon activities. 

Wednesday morning, she woke up and sneezed, crying in pain because her chest hurt. I called the doctor's office and made an appointment, thinking maybe Em had pneumonia or possibly an infection of some kind. Only once over the six or so days of this bad cold did she mention her throat hurt.

We went to see the nurse practitioner who checked her ears, nose, throat, stomach and everything else. “I think the chest pain is from tiny muscles in between the ribs, which sometimes get pulled when a person coughs a lot. Her throat is slightly red, but I don’t think it is strep. I’ll test her, though, just in case.  It’s probably something viral.”

Five minutes later we were informed she had strep throat. Off we went to get “pink medicine,” the nickname we have for liquid amoxicillin, an antibiotic often prescribed to children with bacterial infections like strep.

The next day, nine-year-old Zach woke up saying he did not feel well. “My tummy hurts,” he said.

“Anything else,” I asked.

“No, just my tummy,” he said miserably.

“How about your throat,” I asked. 

“Not really,” he said.  “Just my tummy.”

 Zach had no fever, no sore throat, no white splotches or visible redness of the throat, or other symptoms of strep, such as swollen glands. None the less, my husband, who already took the day off to stay home with Emily (and now Zach, too), made an appointment for Zach to see the doctor, just to be sure. 

Outcome? Zach tested positive for strep. 

A second set of liquid amoxicillin bottles, “pink medicine,” sits in our fridge. Each kid will enjoy two doses a day for 10 days until the medicine is finished. Luckily, they like the stuff. 

My husband and I had spent the week feeling rather “off” ourselves. Oddly, our malaise seemed to come and go, kind of like Emily’s symptoms at first, but minus the terrible cold. Neither of us was feverish or was suffering terribly, just feeling run-down and achy, but still able to carry on.

Neither of us had fever, swollen glands, or other “typical” symptoms of strep.

Then, the same day Zach was diagnosed, my throat began to feel irritated. It was not terribly raw or so painful that I couldn’t eat popcorn when the mood struck later that same afternoon while still at work. 

I work closely with a physician. I told him about my kids and that I wasn’t feeling so hot. I pondered out loud whether I too might have strep.

“You’ll know if you have strep,” he told me. “Trust me, you’ll know.”

Must all be in my head, right? No fever, no searingly painful sore throat.

The next morning, I woke up still feeling off. I made an appointment to see my doctor, "just in case." I stayed home with Zach, while Emily, who was already on her second full day of antibiotics and feeling fine, went back to school. 

My husband went to work, planning to go to see his own doctor at 11 a.m. to get checked out. He called later to tell me he had strep.

Well, well. What do you know? I did too. 

Not one of us had typical symptoms, but each of us indeed had strep throat.

Four doctor visit co-pays and four prescription fills later, here we are. 

Just as hubby and I are feeling our worst, case #1 is feeling dandy and case #2 is bouncing off the walls. It has been 48-plus and 24-plus hours on amoxicillin for each of them and they are raring to go, feeling fine.

They even have the gall to whine and complain about being bored. My husband and I just want to get in bed, pull the covers up and sleep until we too are cured.

Antibiotics and new toothbrushes for all.    

“The strep has spoken,” echoed in my ears. Indeed, it has, taking down the whole family. But we‘re making a comeback. I can feel it!

Postscript: The entire family is feeling just fine as you read this. It was a tiresome week, but we are lucky to have relatively inexpensive, effective treatments readily available. Onward and upward, and may you and your family stay healthy and well.

For more information about strep, talk to your doctor or visit webmd's section on strep throat.