The inevitable happened. After learning about – and thus being exposed to – confirmed cases of Swine Flu at my son’s school and my husband’s work, we got it. My three year old son came home from school on Friday with a fever, all kinds of lethargy and a juicy cough.
At least I was prepared for it.
While rooting around the medicine cabinet for the children’s ibuprofen, I was already on hold with my Pediatrician’s office. And then, no there were no appointments available today but we could call the after hours office and schedule an appointment when it opened at 5:30. Ok. And then they gave me the Florida Flu Information Hotline: 1-877-352-3581 and encouraged me to check out this CDC website.
At the stroke of 5:30, I called. Again on hold. A few minutes later I was told the earliest appointment they had was for 2 hours from then. While I was on hold, that many patients had already beat me to the earlier appointments? Wow.
And what did the Dr. say? Well, the swab testing for the flu came back slightly positive. But my three year old had all the symptoms of the swine flu: fever, lethargy, chesty cough, diarrhea, and headache. He said it’s all he’s seeing right now and thinks we were lucky to catch it early. He prescribed Tamiflu and encouraged we dose him that night. And we did.
So. Here we are. Three days into the Swine Flu. And what does it look like?
Here you go… scary stuff.
I am sure we’re lucky since we caught it early and cranked the anti-viral meds within hours of the first symptoms. But, I gotta tell you, it ain’t so bad. Fever, sniffles, cough, a little ibuprofen, some Tamiflu and…? We’re good. It’s simply the flu people. Just a crazy kind of contagious.
So I wonder. Which of us gets it next? We’ll see.
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8 comments ↓
Oh snap! I knew I should have sent you a swine flu mask. It’s all my fault.
I really do hope we can avoid it. I am focusing on the filthy nails of my kids lately. A bed of nasty those long nails. But when it al boils down, we do what we can, and there’s no counting for all the tiny ways we cannot avoid.
Glad it has sifted out to be fine :)
Happy boy!
The presence of thimerosal in Tamiflu would probably prevent me from using it or giving it to my kids, though. We won’t be getting the H1N1 vaccine either.
Thanks for this more realistic look at what we are up against.
I just read up on thimerosal and Tamiflu, thanks to your blog and your readers comments. We just got the flu vaccine, but not the H1N1 vaccine. I’m thinking of maybe not doing that now, unless we can find the “mercury free” one – which still has trace amounts of mercury. But how hypocritical is that if I let her eat shell fish and sushi?
Exactly. It’s just the flu. Be a diligent parent (or pay attention to yourself if you get it) and all should be well. (Unless you are an individual with an already compromised immune system or lung issues. Obviously.)
Keep taking pictures because that one is priceless!
So glad that C is OK and is not worse for the wear. Thanks for the update!
It seems we are very lucky. A friend knows of a hospitalized little boy who is very sick with the Swine Flu. Keep in mind that it affects everyone differently! Still though? Any flu can be serious, and this is just another variety of flu. Hoping for germ free kids everywhere (ok, stop laughing at me, I can be optimistic)!
Glad to hear your little guy’s doing fine. Crossing my fingers that the rest of you stay swine flu-free. Besides, you can’t get sick – you’ve got a conference to get ready for, woman!
So happy to hear that he is doing better. And just look at that picture! What a happy kid!
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