Mumps

My dear son of 11 years had an earache the other day. 'Mummy it hurts when I eat'. He has always done very well on Pulsatilla so I prescribed that. He is staying at his Dad's (we are divorced) so I had not seen him....I popped in the following day to see a puffed up face! He looked like a lolipop! Unable to chew but able to swallow smoothies and ice cream (of course!).
I immediately saw it was mumps, a childhood disease that is infectious when the glands are raised. The disease can incubate for 14-28 days! So he had been at it a while. No other symptoms, no swelling of testes (yet!), just painful, raised paratid glands (the salivary glands in front of the ears) and looks like a hamster or lolipop, depending on your preference!
In response to seeing him I prescribed Merc viv and Pulsatilla and he is doing very well thank you very much. (The other remedy that is very good for pain on swallowing is Phytolacca). He cannot go out to play just yet as he is infectious, but his immune system is building and he is getting stronger each time he does a childhood disease.
Hooray for our healing ability, hooray for Homoeopathy and hooray to all who have the courage to face these diseases without fear. This is a challenge in a society when 'the powers that be' would rather we lived in fear of disease: it takes courage to not follow the herd and courage to be present for our children when they are sick. It is all part of parenting and constantly I am taught lessons of patience and trust.