Hedging Our Bets

I like to think I'm a faith-filled person.  I rely on God.  I believe in Him, in His goodness.  But I also think He requires us to do what we can to improve our lives, or avoid trouble.

For example, I taught my kids you don't play in a busy road.  I encourage them to get enough rest and eat right.  We brush our teeth (I know, crazy, right?)

We have documents ready with all of Aaron's medications, normal vital signs, trach and vent specifications, etc.  And we have measures in place with each school for our other kids if things go really, really bad.

When we had to take our car in for repairs, I grabbed Aaron's car seat.  No, we weren't planning on needing it, but I worried that if I didn't have it, he'd decide to go south on me.  (Okay, that is a little on the neurotic side.)

And we get our flu shots!

Now, I've heard it all, and yes, I'm well aware that last year the vaccine didn't cover the most prevalent strain.  Believe me, it came here.  I KNOW.

But we're hedging our bets here.
 And I believe the scientific community, and what's more, I believe my doctors that getting the flu shot annually decreases our chances of catching the bug.

Contrary to what some people believe, the flu is not throwing up and diarrhea.

It's high fever, body aches where every movement hurts, coughing and coughing and coughing, headaches.  Basically, feeling like your whole body is betraying you and wondering how long you can possibly endure it.  And that's for otherwise healthy folks.

Then there's Aaron.  You know that cold that makes you a little miserable?  Yeah, it puts him in the ICU fighting to breathe.  So I will do ANYTHING that might even think about preventing him from getting sick.

Including telling people that they can't come in our home without having had a flu shot.  And hauling my boys in for their own over Fall Break.  Yeah, I can hear it now.  "So what'd you do on Fall Break?  We went camping, to Disneyland, hiking, etc."  "Us, we got shots."  Oh well.

Please, please, please, if you're going to be around us, PLEASE get your flu shot.

We already had some "fun" this week when I wondered if he was getting sick.  He'd been running low fevers intermittently and was higher on his oxygen, with "junk" coming out of his nose and trach.


So we spent Thursday in the ER at Primary's.  Good news (and it IS good news) is that he had rhino again.  Better news is that when they asked what I wanted to do, I said, go home!  Because he was still well within what we could handle here.  And he's recovering well, just not able to be off his vent at all yet.

Please help us keep our happy bug happy.  Sick is no fun at all.  And well, we're not going to even think about what we deal with beyond "sick."  And isn't it a lot more fun to see pictures of him laughing and playing, then lying miserable in a hospital bed?

"He who cures a disease may be the skillfullest, but he that prevents it is the safest physician."

Thomas Fuller