And the verdict is...

strep throat for the youngest son.  I did not even think of that, since he didn't have a sore throat at all, just a headache.  Then, this morning, his neck was sore and that, of course, made me think of meningitis and I took him immediately to the pediatrician's office.  Our pediatrician was not in today so we saw the nurse practitioner who said that in almost all of the cases that she's had lately of strep throat, the kids do not complain of a sore throat, just a headache and/or a backache.  Weird, huh?  I wonder if the disease causing strep bacteria has mutated or something?  Anyway, he had to have the throat swab for strep and the nasal swab for flu and that just doesn't make anyone happy, but he's home now and I am blogging while waiting for his prescription to be filled.   He's off school, but his high school age brother and sister are not excused.

This reminds me of when he had strep throat when he was in kindergarten, twice in a row and I kept him home and sent a doctor's note to school both times, but then apparently one of the notes got lost (by the school) and we ended up in truancy court.  I told the truancy officer that if my child was sick, I was keeping him home.

PS:  Edited to add another verdict. The verdict on the MRI of my foot from last week is that I have a tear in the tendon on the inside of my foot.  Joy.