First off, I haven't even experienced a turkey coma and Santa has already hit the malls. Can we celebrate a day of thanks first before pushing the Ho Ho Ho's on us?
Tis the season for germs.
The media has put us in a frenzy over this swine flu and every mother, including myself, has been running to the pediatrician in fear of the flu. I'm not an over reactor when it comes to my kids. Really, true fact. I dont fret when they play in the dirt (yet I do come home and change their clothes if I think they may stain. That's just called me being anal) and if they have a sniffle I dont keep them home from school. I actually usually chalk it up to allergies. However, I do find myself a little bit paranoid this flu season and have turned into somewhat of a paranoid freak.
Our pediatrician's office calls me on my cell to tell me they have the H1N1 vaccine in for Youngest (Oldest is still on stand by to see if the allergists office will give it to him due to the egg factor thing). Nurse says to me "Now listen, when you come into the office, dont announce why you are there. Just come in and wait". I feel like I should be meeting him on the corner with dark glasses on making the "exchange". This vaccine has become a hot commodity to get. Were talking about it at preschool drop off and I'm sure the local water coolers are also having the discussion.
So Youngest gets vaccinated and a day later Oldest spikes a 101 fever out of the blue. Really..out of nowhere. So I check my little H1N1 fact sheet that a friend gave me and sure enough one of the symptoms is...sudden onset of fever. So I give it a bit then realize, Friday night, after hours..I'm doomed. Why cant my kids ever get sick on a Tuesday morning during office hours? I decide to page the on call Dr. It takes over an hour for the nurses to call back (case in point. crazy mothers calling) and I go over Oldest's history- defending myself that I'm not just an over reactive mother calling because her 6 yr old has a fever. I really do have justification. Thankfully she agrees and pages the Dr who calls in a Tamiflu scrip for him..
We continue the night with nebulizer treatments and Tylenol until 530AM when he awakens with a 103 fever. He isn't lying on the couch dying so I decide to re diagnose him with probable pneumonia-not the flu. The kid is coughing up a lung. I'm sure I'm spot on as I bring him into the drs office for weekend urgent hours.
I, along with 20 other hacking children, are being seen "urgently". Dr. S listens to him for a few minutes and I sit, waiting for him to tell me I was correct. "He actually sounds pretty good".
I'm sure I misunderstood.
"What?!" "He's hacking up a lung"
"Yea, it's because he is so congested. We're seeing a lot of this.High fevers but happy kids"
Okay...sooo???
So, we assume it's the flu and treat him as such basically because he is high risk. He doesn't test him for it because there's nothing different we would do. He assures me I cant over react with his medical history. Better safe then sorry and all that...
So we leave, relieved it's nothing worse yet irritated with myself for going into a tailspin along with the rest of the world.
We cant help it. We see the news. They are saying children are dying. Healthy kids..dying from a flu.
No wonder we are all acting crazy.
Yes, tis' the season
BAH HUMBUG!
Tis the season for germs.
The media has put us in a frenzy over this swine flu and every mother, including myself, has been running to the pediatrician in fear of the flu. I'm not an over reactor when it comes to my kids. Really, true fact. I dont fret when they play in the dirt (yet I do come home and change their clothes if I think they may stain. That's just called me being anal) and if they have a sniffle I dont keep them home from school. I actually usually chalk it up to allergies. However, I do find myself a little bit paranoid this flu season and have turned into somewhat of a paranoid freak.
Our pediatrician's office calls me on my cell to tell me they have the H1N1 vaccine in for Youngest (Oldest is still on stand by to see if the allergists office will give it to him due to the egg factor thing). Nurse says to me "Now listen, when you come into the office, dont announce why you are there. Just come in and wait". I feel like I should be meeting him on the corner with dark glasses on making the "exchange". This vaccine has become a hot commodity to get. Were talking about it at preschool drop off and I'm sure the local water coolers are also having the discussion.
So Youngest gets vaccinated and a day later Oldest spikes a 101 fever out of the blue. Really..out of nowhere. So I check my little H1N1 fact sheet that a friend gave me and sure enough one of the symptoms is...sudden onset of fever. So I give it a bit then realize, Friday night, after hours..I'm doomed. Why cant my kids ever get sick on a Tuesday morning during office hours? I decide to page the on call Dr. It takes over an hour for the nurses to call back (case in point. crazy mothers calling) and I go over Oldest's history- defending myself that I'm not just an over reactive mother calling because her 6 yr old has a fever. I really do have justification. Thankfully she agrees and pages the Dr who calls in a Tamiflu scrip for him..
We continue the night with nebulizer treatments and Tylenol until 530AM when he awakens with a 103 fever. He isn't lying on the couch dying so I decide to re diagnose him with probable pneumonia-not the flu. The kid is coughing up a lung. I'm sure I'm spot on as I bring him into the drs office for weekend urgent hours.
I, along with 20 other hacking children, are being seen "urgently". Dr. S listens to him for a few minutes and I sit, waiting for him to tell me I was correct. "He actually sounds pretty good".
I'm sure I misunderstood.
"What?!" "He's hacking up a lung"
"Yea, it's because he is so congested. We're seeing a lot of this.High fevers but happy kids"
Okay...sooo???
So, we assume it's the flu and treat him as such basically because he is high risk. He doesn't test him for it because there's nothing different we would do. He assures me I cant over react with his medical history. Better safe then sorry and all that...
So we leave, relieved it's nothing worse yet irritated with myself for going into a tailspin along with the rest of the world.
We cant help it. We see the news. They are saying children are dying. Healthy kids..dying from a flu.
No wonder we are all acting crazy.
Yes, tis' the season
BAH HUMBUG!
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