I rarely get sick, which is surprising since I have 2 young kids. I’ll get a cold here and there. But, rarely does something really get me down… until last weekend.
My 3-year-old, Maya, had started coughing on Friday, then developed a fever that night. By Saturday, I had the chills and felt incredibly sore. I ended up sleeping in Maya’s room that night, and what a miserable night it was. I was burning up, and she was clearly uncomfortable. At one point she started crying because her room was “moving”.
Sunday was spent napping. And, by Sunday afternoon, Maya seemed fine. I was still exhausted and achy. But Maya was energetic and ready to play. We both returned to work/school on Monday and seemed to be improving. Then, Maya’s cough returned on Tuesday. The fever returned that night, as well.
We stayed home on Wednesday and ended up at the pediatrician’s office that afternoon when I took Maya’s temperature and it was 103. Once at the doctor’s office, they took her temperature again and it was… NORMAL! Then Maya started singing and dancing, acting like a healthy child. I felt like a paranoid mother.
The doctor did confirm that Maya’s symptoms were “consistent” with what they were seeing with H1N1. They don’t actually test for H1N1 because the test has proven to be unreliable with false positives (and false negatives). And, since her symptoms were my symptoms, I have reason to believe that what I had was H1N1.
Could it have been avoided? I don’t think so. The vaccine is scarce. Our doctor’s office has a vaccine wait list for kids over 3. We wash hands and encourage coughing into our arms. But, let’s be honest. Trying to get a 3-year-old to cover their cough is next to impossible. So, we got sick, and survived!
We’re still early in the flu season. It’s not too late to start taking care of ourselves and fortifying our own immune system. You can read Dr. Lark’s recommendations for “bullet proofing” your immune system here.