Evening all.

This is more a curiousity thing on behalf of both my wife and I.

Over the past few months, every time my stepson (my wife's son from a previous relationship), age 5, returns from his grandparents house (on his father's side), he's sick. No fever most of the time, but phlegmy cough, sore throat, lost voice, etc. Usually lasts 3-4 days after he leaves their place.

He rarely seems to get sick from school, from here, or from his father's. His great-aunt is currently in remission from Leukemia, and her portion of the house is always sterile.

We're curious if there is something that could be related to her condition, or measures they're taking to keep things sterile. Or maybe because he constantly goes back and forth from sterile to a non-sterile environment while he's there?

He's uncomfortable, but takes some meds and recovers. But its every. single. time. Poor kid spends the first few days of every time we get him sick.

We were running over a few scenarios and it seems to us that his great-aunt is really the only thing that isn't here at our place, or over at his father's/stepmother's...but of course, we could be off-base.

Thanks in advance for any insight, we're not overly concerned, again, just curious!

Could it be an allergic reaction to something? Animal? Plant? Food that is served? Soap? Etc.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
Could it be an allergic reaction to something? Animal? Plant? Food that is served? Soap? Etc.

That was one of our guesses, but pets, food, etc are the same between his grandparents and his fathers...if anything, my wife and I would be the outliers there.

It's always a possibility.

Maybe mold?

Yep I was thinking mold too after my first post.

If you have a HEPA air filter, try leaving it on at grandma’s while he’s there for

I saw you respond that the food is the same and assume you mean types. What about quantity. Grandparents are notorious for overfeeding, allowing extra snacks, ice cream, you scream give the kid all the sugar he wants. Plus the change in routine bedtime etc.

JD

quote:

Originally posted by xwesler:

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
Could it be an allergic reaction to something? Animal? Plant? Food that is served? Soap? Etc.

That was one of our guesses, but pets, food, etc are the same between his grandparents and his fathers...if anything, my wife and I would be the outliers there.
It's always a possibility.

The two families share the same pets, shampoo and laundry soap? The house is different, the people are different, the pets are different, the routines are different.
GParents and Dad might have a more "closed" environment than your house that *could*? change the air more often or as you mentioned, the cleaning products for great-aunt's condition.

The "sterile" environment strikes me as a red herring. (aside from whatever products they use to try to achieve that)
Unless it has a COMPLETELY different air handler than the rest of the house and is pressurized and vented outside, something that a normal home just doesn't do, it may be just more closed off from the rest of the house than normal.

Just spitballing...could be something as simple as a sleep pattern disturbance alluded to above or a mold problem that nobody knows about.

Any smokers in the mix?

^^^^^My first thought as well, with the mold being a close second.

This shouldn’t be. Perhaps time for a physical for the child. When he shows up sick, bring him to the doc, along with an explanation to the doc about the timing of the illness.

Have you discussed with father/stepmom?

Is it possible he’s spending a lot of time yelling there (weird, I know but?)?

My first thoughts were mold and smoking, too.

Does grandma keep a lot of houseplants? Maybe he's allergic to something she's growing (and, no, I'm not suggesting grandma is growing pot). My grandmother always had violets, orchids, and any number of flowers in her house.

not a doctor (and didn't play one on TV)

quick google search found this - pretty consitent with my experience with my 3 girls (all of whom are grown now) link

Might see if they will run a humidifier in his room when he sleeps. Maybe that will help.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Any smokers in the mix?

Exactly what I was going to ask, and ?