Ashley VS Virus!
5 Jun
It’s one of those things you always read about in the papers but conveniently brush aside saying “that’ll never happen to me”. But on Saturday, despite Ashley being so strong and healthy all these months, she came down with her first major illness – the dreaded Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD).
HFMD typically afllicts young children and causes nasty symptoms like fever, rashes and blisters on the palms of hands and soles of feet, and ulcers in the mouth. As HFMD is caused by viruses, medication like antibiotics is ineffective. Thus, poor Ashley just has to let the infection run its course.
Over the weekend, many ulcers developed in her throat and she couldn’t eat anything nor drink milk. She kept pointing her finger in her mouth and crying but we just felt so helpless as there was nothing we could do to ease her pain nor help her understand that it was only temporary.
At 5am on Sunday morning, after hours and hours of non-stop crying, we finally decided to take her to KK hospital. Unfortunately, there was nothing much the doctors there could do either except give her some glucose to drink. In moments like these, it really dawned on us that we need to pray for Ashley and trust that the Lord would provide. I SMSed all the IslandHopies and as always, everyone eagerly answered the prayer request.
“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matt 18:19-20
On Sunday evening, miracle of miracles, Ashley started drinking milk and her fever subsided. Her appetite returned and she reverted to her usual greedy self by constantly nagging us to feed her when we were having our dinner. We were so relieved as the doctor told us that it might take another day or two before her appetite returned. God is Good!
The latest update as of Monday night is that Ashley still has pretty bad rashes on her arms. However, she’s back to her playful self and only cries when we try to change her clothes. It’ll probably take another few more days for her to completely recover but at least the worst is over! 
Happily drinking away the blues…
Just wanna say thank you to all our Care Group and church friends who have covered Ashley in prayer and also to Nicole for giving us lots of good advice from her experience as a pre-school teacher who has seen a lot of such cases. We are indeed blessed.
Tiger, Snowdon: Thanks guys!...
get well soon, ashley!!
Hey Windy! Thanks for your well wishes!
Hope she gets well soon too! How did she get it anyway?
Hey Ink, will pray for Ashley! Yeah, trust in the Lord.
From a fellow father
Hi INK, how did Ashley get it? Ashley, get well soon, we will pray very hard for you. Please feel free to let us know if you need anything, we will pray very hard for you all.
Tiger & Vincentmum: Oh she caught it from her cousin who caught it from a church friend. In fact, I think there’s some sort of outbreak of HFMD this year, with 600+ cases being recorded during the 3rd week of April alone. Scary…
Jonah: Thanks! Do ensure that you baby’s hands are always washed too as good hygiene is one of the best weapons against HFMD.
poooooorr bbaabbbyyyyy *hugs and kisses*
Miribi: Nothing like a lil TLC!
Must have really felt helpless not being able to relieve her agony thru the HFMD process ya…? Can imagine…
Great she’s recovering now =)
Poor Ashley. Something like Bonjela jel would have lessen her mouth discomfort.
Andrewong: Yah, coz kids can’t understand your reassurances. That’s why really thank God the worst was over pretty fast.
Artkwok: Unfortunately the ulcers were in the throat so it wouldn’t have helped. Her mouth was ulcer-free.
Poor little girl…Hope Ashley is getting better now…Keeping her in prayer.
This is the third case of HFMD I’ve heard of this few weeks, the other two were daughters of a colleague… seems pretty nasssty! It’s been a few days since your post so hope Ashley has already had a full recovery.
Dee & Peishan: Thanks, Ashley has actually recovered already! There was a record number of outbreaks this year and the scary thing is that catching it once doesn’t make a toddler immune since it’s caused by a wide variety of different viruses.