ORIGINALLY POSTED ON YODELINGMAMAS.COM
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Last week, those scary what-ifs became our scary reality. My 3-year-old son came down with the dreaded swine flu. Not only had I been completely freaked out by the media, I have friends who are doctors who told me this is really no joke. Not to mention, just the day before a colleague had returned to work after recovering from one of the worst weeks of her life. With no vaccines yet available at our pediatrician’s office and a baby with respiratory problems, I had a feeling we were in for a really rough ride.
Somehow we got lucky. Yes, my son was very sick. He had fevers of up to 103 degrees, was so exhausted and sore that he couldn’t walk, had a cough and stuffy nose, but it didn’t last too long. Though the nurse recommended we stay home, I’m a pushy mom and wanted to be seen so my boys could be treated.
We went in the back way, the nurse and doctor came in in masks and gloves, but we left with 2 glorious prescriptions. A treatment dose of Tamiflu for my 3-year old and a prophylactic dose for my 11-month old in the hopes that he wouldn’t get it and have respiratory complications. Within a few hours of the first dose—and no bad side effects—my son was noticeably better and his fever was gone. (According to the doctor he would no longer be contagious 24 hours after that.) Though he was still very tired for three days after his fever broke, he was back to normal pretty quickly.
My husband and I have spent the last week madly gargling, using nasal saline sprays and praying that the rest of us didn’t get it. It was like waiting for a bomb to drop. By some miracle, it never did. We’ve now passed the 7-day incubation period and are thanking our lucky stars that we’re healthy in time for my son’s 1st birthday and Thanksgiving.
I know a lot of people have suffered greatly and it’s a terrible flu. But I also wish I had heard another side of the story so I wasn’t so incredibly worried for a week. I wish everyone great health (and luck) this winter season. Now I plan to get back to life…if people aren’t too nervous to be around me!
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