Influenza!!

Yep, we've got it.  Or rather, he's got it.

Last Wednesday, Andrew woke me up early, like at 4:45, because he couldn't breathe.  I took him into the bathroom, started the steamy shower, and watched him.  He was retracting and had a slow capillary refill (way to measure how much oxygen is getting to his cells), so I went for his coat and shoes to take him outside.  While I was gone, he managed to cough up a bunch of yuck (too graphic? sorry) and was doing much better when I got back.  His throat had been a bit scratchy for a couple of days so we'd already put him on Aaron precautions.

I took him in because I figured that if Aaron got sick, knowing ahead of time what we were dealing with would be that much better.  He tested positive for RSV.  Not something that makes this mama's heart sing.  For grade school kids and older, it should be a mild cold.  It was more than mild for this ten year old.  So he got banished to the basement (where the TV and DVD player live anyway).  A few days later, all is good and he was even back to playing futsal without any issues.  All's good, right?

From this...

Um, yeah, and then there was Aaron.  Remember, I'm watching for coughing, congestion, slow onset here.  Not quite how it happened.  I left Saturday morning at 8:30 to run Matthew to a meeting after mentioning that I loved Aaron's resting heart rate of 78-80.  That meant that he wasn't working hard, oxygen was good, blood was flowing freely through those fragile lungs.  Birds singing, blue skies, you get the picture.

I get home at 9:15 and it had changed, big time!  His face is red, scrunched up.  He's pulling his legs up but also acting like moving hurts.  Heart rate was up, too.  Took his temp.  Fever of 38.4 (101.1).  And it climbed from there.  We spent the day bouncing between 38.4 and 39.2, and that was with both Motrin and Tylenol on board.  I started doing albuterol breathing treatments every four hours and simply didn't leave the house for anything the rest of the day.  And he was sad, so very, very sad.  If you moved him, he cried.  If he was awake, he cried.  Sometimes if he was asleep, he was crying.  I could cuddle him in the rocker and rock gently, but that was about the only thing that helped.

To this, in less than 45 minutes.  

The next morning before leaving for church, William asked me when it all started.  As I rehearsed what had been happening, it hit me.  He had the flu.  Influenza.  Classic onset.  And the coughing and congestion, the biggies for him, were due to hit the next day.

I called the pediatrician on call and we got Tamiflu for him and started it right away.  William and David gave him a priesthood blessing last night.  It all seems to be helping a little.  We get a few smiles here and there, but when you look at his eyes, they're still sad.  This morning, the congestion has started.  His lungs sound worse, we're suctioning a lot.  I put in a call (mostly for reassurance, you know, picture a brand new mom and all) to the hospital.  As long as we're maintaining here at home, as long as we can support him, we stay right here.  They do have some bigger guns up there, but they also have bigger germs.

I'm so grateful for my little hospital room set up right here.  Sometimes, I miss the "old me."  The one that didn't know how to monitor so closely, that didn't have the equipment at her fingertips to do the monitoring.  But today, I'm glad for it.  If we can get to Day 5, Wednesday, without having to go in, we should be on the downside of things.

The frustrating part of this is that there is only one place he could have got it.  The incubation period is 1-4 days.  The only place he went last week was to school.  And no one here, and none of my nurses or their families, have been sick. One of his nurses told me that there were at least 2 kids sent home last week from his class, obviously sick and feverish.  One came right back the next day.  District policy, in ALL schools, is that at least 24 hours fever free.  I guess I fooled myself that his classroom would be safer, because all the kids there are severely handicapped, and all the special needs moms I know are germaphobes.  In fact, I'm one of the most lenient I know!

Warning:  Soapbox Rant!
PLEASE, think of someone besides yourself when you're sick or your child is sick!  Yes, I get that it's inconvenient to rearrange your schedule.  I KNOW that.  I LIVE that, too!  Frankly, taking "time off" to spend two weeks at the hospital doesn't do great things for our family's schedule either.  But your desire to not be put out may KILL someone else.  And that's going to cause a whole lot more damage and heartache that missing a few days of work or activities or whatever has to be rescheduled.  Please consider others!!!!


Okay, rant over.  Please pray for our little man.  The next 48-72 hours could be dicey for him.

The greatest wealth is health.  ~Virgil