Chicken Pox & Holidays

[mirlow]

I just found out that my 9 yr old has the chicken pox.  We are getting ready to drive across country for the holidays   I'm wondering how to make this possible?  We're going to stay with her grandparents who are in their 70's.  Will this have any impact on their health?  All of my children's health books are in storage, in fact we are staying at a hotel (that's why we are driving back to CO)  I've been looking on line to find the best way to deal with this holistically and there is information overload!  Any advice would be great. 

Also my 15 yr old has never gotten the CP, so there's the possibility of her getting it on the road. 

I've tried doing some searches on MDC, but I'm not use to this newer set up.  I'm hoping I posted this question in the right forum?

Thank you.

[tanyalynn]

In terms of travel... I wouldn't.  It looks like your 9yo will be contagious for a lot of the trip--

http://www.drgreene.com/azguide/chickenpox?pagination=1

This says usually about a week after the outbreak starts, and if you have another child who hasn't had CP, then I'd assume it's likely they'll be contagious before they have symptoms and then for another week-ish. 

And beyond the issue of being contagious, travel is stressful anyway, and it's not an illness I'd want to travel during.  Regular colds, we'll travel, but for us, at Thanksgiving a year ago, we decided to stay home because DD had a prolonged coughing illness--I think she was contagious, and really, she would've been miserable if we'd tried to travel.  Not what we planned, but it would've been stressful for me to support her through the illness, I would've felt bad if anyone else had gotten sick, and she wasn't feeling good--all in all, it was just a good idea to skip.  We tried to find a few special things we could do at home to make up for not being able to travel. 

I haven't dealt with CP in the kids yet, so all I know is general stuff.  I'd give more vitamin C, maybe vitamin A since rash illnesses seem to use it up quickly.  Maybe supplemental zinc too. 

[EviesMom]

I have dealt with chicken pox, and I wouldn't travel under the circumstances you described. By 15, it could be a rough time with chicken pox, and travel adds stress, which makes cp worse. As well, your 9 year old is completely contagious, and it could be a danger for 70 year olds. Active, diagnosed cp and a sibling makes it too risky IMO. Can you reschedule the travel? I would talk to your ped first.