anal probing.

apparently M_'s preschool had an outbreak of pinworms this week. for those of you not in the know (which would've included me, until about 45 minutes ago), here's a little info-nugget from the CDC's handy pinworm infection fact sheet:

This infection is caused by a small, white intestinal worm called Enterobius vermicularis (EN-ter-O-be-us ver-MIK-u-lar-is). Pinworms are about the length of a staple and live in the rectum of humans. While an infected person sleeps, female pinworms leave the intestines through the anus and deposit eggs on the surrounding skin.

[shudder]

so the deal is that we are basically now on Code Red Anal Watch, and must monitor M_'s butt and its butt-products constantly, maintain OCD-level hand washing behavior, and try to repress our dry heaves.

as long as its after noon, its okay to break out the hard liquor, right?

Comments

[cheryl]

OMG! I remember reading a story about pinworms when I was pregnant (I think it was in Breeder) and deciding then & there that maybe I was not cut out for this parenting thing. Eeeeeew!

I hope that M_ remains pinworm-free and that you all get through this with minimal psychological trauma.

[Ella]

Wow! Disgusting and somewhat funny all in one. LOL

Thanks for the info. I had no idea either until I read your story (mommy to an 8 month old).

So, my question is this: Why do you have to monitor the situation? Doesn't she get to take a worm killing medicine or use some kind of anti-worm cream?

[hez]

The joys of preschool. Everytime I see a notice posted on the door, I cringe. How goes the M_ Anal Watch 2004?

When my nieces got head lice (eek), my sister-in-law went thru a six pack in no time, to deal with the ewww-ness factor. So yeah, if you see any of those white squiggley things, you just go right ahead crack open a bottle.

btw, I may take you up on the CDMix Challenge. #19 made me laugh. Have you heard the version by Jason Falkner? It cracked me up.

[sweetney]

M_ anal watch 2004 is ongoing...yet i think, despite my inherent paranoia, that she's unaffected. THANK FUCKING GOD.

though have you guys been reading that shit about the expected bird flu pandemic? they aren't really talking about it much in the news here, but check this out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/international/asia/30flu.html?oref=login

now THAT'S something to really worry about, no?