Influenza Strikes

Poor Lindsey is sick. She came home from school on Wednesday and said she had a headache all day. Of course, she never told her teacher so she stayed at school. I could tell instantly that she had a fever. Yesterday she was a little worse, but it wasn't until after she took a nap that I got more concerned as her fever was on the rise. She complained that her throat hurt bad and her temp was 102.3, so I thought I'd take her to the doctor for a strep test. Her culture was negative, but the doctor was confident that what she does have is Influenza. That wasn't even on my radar...not sure why...it just hadn't crossed my mind. However, she does have every single symptom, so I'm sure that is the case as well. We aren't sure if it is the seasonal influenza or swine flu because they are only specifically testing for that if you are hospitalized. So, we just know she feels pretty bad and gets to miss a lot of school. Neither of which is great news. They want her out of school until Oct. 1 unless she can go a full 24 hours without coughing, sneezing or fever.

They sent us home with a list of supportive care treatment options and said to call them if she isn't showing signs of improvement by next Wednesday or if she has trouble breathing, has a secondary illness such as an ear infection or acts extremely ill. They told us to expect her to get worse before she gets better and they were right. Her temp overnight was 104.5, which is the highest for anyone in our family. She beat out Isaac again. I swear those two have some sort of fever contest that I'm unaware of...LOL! Lets hope no one is able to break this record because that is WAY too high. Her other symptoms are all worse today too. Lots of coughing, sneezing, congestion, sore throat...etc. She is a total trooper though. She barely complains at all.

So, I kinda fear what is to come. Wayne is the only one of us who has had a flu shot this year. He had the seasonal one, not the swine flu one. Connor and I will be getting them today because the stat care clinic in town will do them for ages 4 and up. I wasn't able to get an appointment for Isaac until early October, so he and Lindsey will go then...provided neither of them are sick at that time. I know this will not prevent us from catching it from Lindsey because we are all already exposed, but hopefully it will help keep us healthy the rest of the winter. The paperwork they gave us says the incubation is 24-36 hours. So, I guess we'll know soon if anyone else is going to get it.

Please say a prayer for the health of our family that we could be strong and get through this as quickly and painlessly as possible.