So - I'm thinking we might have H1N1 in the house. Or not - it could be anything. And seriously - who really cares? We just deal with it and get better like having any other virus. But since I've been up since 2:30 in the morning - so why not blog about it?
Let's recap:
Kira got sick (probably before Tues/Wed) but had a fever Tues/Wed. Not many other symptoms though. Stayed home with her.
Thursday morning - Will complained of a sore throat or runny nose or something and told us he couldn't go to school. Jeff and I gave each other the "I HAVE to go to work (Jen)...I HAVE to go to work (Jeff) looks and decided that Will was going to school regardless.
It's not that we're cold and uncaring parents.
It's not that we love work that much.
It's just that I had a baby a year and a half ago and had to use up ALL my sick and vacation time for maternity leave (wish we lived in Europe instead of America) and have been SLOWLY accruing sick hours since then. In the meantime, Jeff has been using up all his sick time handling every sick day for Kira or Will and/or doctor's appointments and fake sick days for himself (you know it's true honey). But besides having barely any sick days between the two of us and knowing we have to save what we have left incase one of us actually gets sick ourselves...part of us thought that Will was just sort of complaining since Kira had been home with Mom for 2 days and now Will likely wanted his shot at some alone time with Mom.
So we told him he's going to school and off to work/daycare/school we all went (infecting people along the way I'm sure).
Then on Friday when Will showed symptoms of actually coming down with whatever Kira had - I was so thankful that it was on a Friday that I'd already had the day off as a vacation day due to Will's no school day. I was counting my blessings that this happened on this Friday because it gave us a long 3 day weekend to deal with this and it also meant that he'd likely be better by Monday. I was so thankful about the wonders of life and about how the timing couldn't have been any better. And since I'd made a billion doctor's appointments on my productive Tues/Wed home with her - Kira had an appointment for an immunization and excema check on Friday - so I figured why not ask if the doctor can see them both since they will both be with me at the clinic and Will is actually the sick one now so maybe they can "make it a double" appointment.
So then again I gave thanks about the wonderful timing of all this and isn't life just amazing that I just happened to have a doctor's appointment scheduled for today at 10AM and that the wonderful woman on the phone went above and beyond and gave me the secret (reach a human) phone number for my clinic because she couldn't schedule a double from the appointments line. And how wonderful it is that the human at the clinic (that we wouldn't have normally been allowed to speak to) said it would be fine to make the appointment a double.
So then we have the appointment. Will gets a throat culture for strep and it's negative. The doctor is pretty sure he has what Kira had and since it seems to be moving through the house he turns and asks me how I'm feeling.
I think about how the right gland in my neck is swollen and I can feel it every time I swallow. I know my body is either fighting this off or about to come down with it.
Do I tell him? No.
I just tell him that "I'm doing good" or something like that. Is it because we are that programmed as adults to be polite? Seriously. He mentions something about Mom's being strong and we laugh and joke but we both know - I'm next. Giggle. I just find that so funny because you'd think that it would only make sense for me to tell the doctor about my throat...while I'm at the clinic and he's asking....but all I can think of is how lucky we are that they let us make this appointment a DOUBLE and the thought of making it a TRIPLE is beyond my comprehension.
The doctor told me about how he was semi-retired now and they had some new computer system and he couldn't access a record and thought it must be a sign that it was time for him to quit for good. Giggle. Don't we all think things like that are "signs". So funny.
What else I noticed - everyone I deal with for the past 2-3 years involved with this agency complains about this new computer system. When I had Kira - the midwives would complain about the new computer system - people not getting the care they need because it's harder to track what's going on via the computer vs the paper charts they were used to. After she was born and they typed in all the data about her weight and height and all that...the lady pushed some wrong keystroke and lost all the information. Then she didn't care so much the 2nd time around and Kira's precious stats were approximated a bit more and a bit less exact the 2nd time around. That hospital is affiliated with my place of employment and the insurance company is the insurance I get through work. Now THIS doctor is affiliated with the same insurance company and it's been a few years and HE's complaining about the same new computer system. It reminds me of our new computer system at my work and even though I think progress is important and I'm no stranger to technology....I know about all the bugs that happen that make us not able to work and I sometimes wonder if maybe - paper is actually the way to go.
Maybe things would be better if our doctors made house calls like they do in Europe. Maybe someday there will be some sort of Y2K type computer/internet disaster and everything will go - kaput. Whatever - until then - we blog at 3AM. Right?
Where was I? Oh yeah - So anyway - now Will's sick and I thought it was with whatever Kira had - but he's a lot sicker than she was so now I'm not so sure. Which means either his body is weaker and whatever they both had is taking a bigger toll on him or else it means that they have something different. That wouldn't be good because she was sucking on his juice box today and last thing I need is for her to get what he has now.
So when Will woke up at 2:30AM to tell us that he "couldn't talk" and that his throat didn't feel good and I could tell from touching him that his fever was higher than it was earlier today...I had to get on the computer to look up the H1N1 symptoms because that's just one I wasn't able to look up in one of my books on the bookshelf. It took FOREVER to get into the computer because it kept needing to be shut down and restarted (which I took as a SIGN that I shouldn't be on the computer - LOL!)
But finally I got in and read about:
Signs of influenza A(H1N1) are flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose.
Will has all of that...
A person should seek medical care if they experience shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, or if a fever continues more than three days. For parents with a young child who is ill, seek medical care if a child has fast or labored breathing, continuing fever or convulsions (seizures).
Will has the shortness of breath according to the doctor this morning. He always has difficulty breathing when he's sick because his "weak area" is his lungs. The doctors sometimes label it "reactive airway" or "asthma" but he's never been officially diagnosed. He used to have a nebulizer/albuterol for colds and such since he used to always get shortness of breath anytime he was sick.
So - now we wait - I guess we watch to see if the fever gets worse and track how he's doing. Maybe we go to Urgent Care since now it's the weekend and everything is closed. I'm in no rush to go there though since they tend to be useless for things like this. I'm so tired of hearing - yeah - your kid is sick - go home - rest up - drink fluids - take tylenol. It seems they can never do anything to help - why bother going in? Yet we probably will - because we always do - just incase - since you never know.
So anyway - now it's 4AM. Maybe it's H1N1. Maybe it's not. Maybe I'll get it next. Maybe I won't. Maybe Kira will get sick again if it's something different than she had before. Maybe she won't. Likely Jeff won't get sick because he never does. Likely I will because I always do. Likely Will has the same thing Kira had and she was better in 2 days so likely he'll be better in 2-3 days and likely I'll be back at work on Monday. Maybe I infected those I worked with on Thursday. Maybe not. Maybe now their families are sick. Maybe not. Maybe Will's classmates will get sick and Kira's daycare kids will get sick and some movie theater people that Will coughed on Will get sick. Maybe not. It sounds worse if it's H1N1 - but seriously - who cares. It's a virus. It will pass.
I should sleep.
William kept waiting up for me while I'd leave his room to try and get the computer to turn on so I could look up the symptoms. I'd go into his room now and then and massage/tickle his body to cool him off while we waited for the tylenol to kick in and I told him:
"Dad will be mostly taking care of Kira and I will be mostly taking care of you. I will be bringing you kleenexes and taking care of your throat and helping you feel better...but your job is to sleep. Maybe I'll snuggle in here with you and maybe I'll go sleep on the couch....I'll check on you all the time...but don't stay awake waiting for me - I want you to sleep because our bodies get better when we sleep."
And he is - so I will too.
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