Saturday, November 7, 2009

With a Grateful Heart















My boy is has turned the corner and is doing much better.

Things I am thankful for today:

  • God, in so many ways, but especially for answer to prayer
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  • The improved health of my son
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  • Continued health of my family and myself
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  • Support and prayers of my family
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  • Support and prays of my blog friends and friends in real life :)
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  • Excellent, responsive medical professionals
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  • Tamiflu-I attribute the significant decrease in his symptom so quickly to getting this in his system about 12 hours after the onset of his symptoms. (He went from seemingly well to very ill within 7 hours)
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  • Flu.gov in helping me manage my boy’s illness at home

Here is how I managed his flu at home, we are an at-risk (asthmatic) family, so it was important that we took good flu precautions:

First of all this link helped me tremendously:

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance_homecare.htm


He was in his bedroom for 2 days with me (either 6 feet away or with a mask) as his only caregiver, in order to prevent flu transmission to the rest of the family.

I am allowing him free range of the house again as his fever has been below 100.7 for 24 hours. He will have significant reduction in his viral shed now.

CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever (100°F or 37.8°C) is gone except to get medical care or for other things you have to do and no one else can do for you. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine, such as Tylenol®.) You should stay home from work, school, travel, shopping, social events, and public gatherings.”

He will still need to cough and sneeze into tissues, have good hand hygeine, and stay out of my kitchen (my rule) until he has full resolution of symptoms.

*Although my son did have a flu, it is not certain that it was H1N1. He was treated as if he had H1N1, but individual confirmations are not being done. I will be getting my son the H1N1 vaccine as soon as he is well and it is available. My family is in the high risk group for complications for H1N1. We will all be vaccinated.

Here is a link to help you know if it is a cold or a flu:

http://flu.gov/individualfamily/about/symptoms/index.html


Because I am a heath care provider I received my H1N1 vaccine yesterday- It will help me to protect my vulnerable family and my pregnant patients by helping me to avoid the H1N1 flu, once my H1N1 immunity is established (2 weeks according to flu.gov)



Are you at risk?

People at High Risk for Developing Flu-Related Complications

  • Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old
  • Adults 65 years of age and older
  • Pregnant women

People who have medical conditions including:

  • Asthma
  • Neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions [including disorders of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, and muscle such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizure disorders), stroke, intellectual disability (mental retardation), moderate to severe developmental delay, muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury].
  • Chronic lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] and cystic fibrosis)
  • Heart disease (such as congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease)
  • Blood disorders (such as sickle cell disease)
  • Endocrine disorders (such as diabetes mellitus)
  • Kidney disorders
  • Liver disorders
  • Metabolic disorders (such as inherited metabolic disorders and mitochondrial disorders)
  • Weakened immune system due to disease or medication (such as people with HIV or AIDS, or cancer, or those on chronic steroids)

29 comments:

Foursons said...

Yes, I think you got "bawahahahahaha" correct! :D

I was taking Armour thyroid medication for my hypothyroidism. It is a natural medication as opposed to a synthetic one that they create to do the same thing as the natural but I have since learned that it doesn't. Did that make sense? Clear as mud I hope. Anyways, Armour thyroid is made from something out of a pig believe it or not. And they are using it to make the Swine Flu vaccine. So I can't get Armour at all and have been told that I will probably never be able to get it again due to the whole Swine Flu outbreak. I hope that answered your question- if not I'll try again. On a positive note- I'm hoping it means I won't get the Swine flu since I've been taking this medicine every day for the past 5 years. *fingers crossed*

Debby@Just Breathe said...

I am so glad he is doing better. I worry because of my asthma. I'm in most of the week and I always wash my hands, keeping them off my face. I was told years ago (20) that I shouldn't get the flu shot because of allergies. So I never have and I normally don't get it but I am concerned about this one.

Catherine Anne said...

So happy he is doing better!

Brandi said...

Sorry to hear your son got the flu, but it's good news that he is doing better. :) I'm really hoping this doesn't hit our house. It seems to be turning up everywhere.

-stephanie- said...

You seem to be taking all the necessary precautions. Good to know he's feeling better.

Mags said...

Glad your boy is doing well! And, thanks for all the links...my kids are asthmatic as well. So far, everyone is well...knock on wood!

He & Me + 3 said...

So glad scout is doing better. Thanks for all of the information.

Orah said...

glad your son is getting better. I am better besides my neck which I pulled. Hun is also better, but is still experiencing residual affects of flu. Thanks for thinking of us as well.

Mr. Daddy said...

good to hear scout is doing better... lets just hope and pray that the rest of you avoid it....

form all of the at risk list it sounds like you can only get it if you are alone or with somebody???? LOL

Stay safe and take care...

Anonymous said...

Oh no! I totally missed the previous post; I am SO glad that your boy is better. We had a horrible epidemic of the swine flu at my son's school several weeks ago. Over 30% of the middle school was out, and it was close to that in lower school, as well. Most classes had 4-5 kids out at a time, and a couple of classes had 10 kids out of 20 out. It was not that bad for some children and really bad for others, but Tamiflu definitely made a huge difference for those who could get it. It was about 50/50 here on the doctors who would prescribe it. I am so thankful that none of us got it here at my house and am praying that since it hit so hard here, it won't come back around. Keep loving on that boy; next to the Tamiflu, that's the best medicine there is! I'll be praying that he recovers completely in record time...

Morgan said...

I'm sorry your son was sick, but that's great that he's feeling better now!

Will it cause any problems for him to get the vaccine if indeed he did have h1n1?

The h1n1 flu was going around my church like crazy this past month. It seems to be slowing down a little now, but I'm still a little paranoid about keeping the kids' away from coughing people. We've been washing hands and using sanitizer quite a bit while out as well. I wish we could all just hull up in our house for the next few months until the flu has run it's course. That doesn't seem possible, though.

I hope the rest of you continue to stay healthy and that your son keeps feeling better!

Unknown said...

This junk is ALL over! We ALL had it and it seems as though it's everywhere! I sure hope your son recovers quickly from this...and that the rest of you will stay healthy...he is lucky to have you as his momma.

Caroline said...

Glad he is doing better. Prayers
Caroline

Kelley said...

I'm glad he is feeling better! I got my vaccine today!

Gracie said...

So glad Scout is better. Still praying =)

cousin beth said...

I'm so glad he's doing better and you all are ok so far. I called my mom right away when I saw your previous post and she had just heard via email from your dad. Anyway, continued prayers from Iowa and Wisconsin! And thanks for the great H1N1 info and websites. It's all over the place here and we can't get the vaccine either. Stay well!

Mrs. M said...

Glad he is feeling better. Sounds like you did all the right things to help him and protect your family. My kids got vaccinated last week (though I'm told they will need another booster). Hopefully they will let me get one soon too.

Liz Mays said...

He couldn't have a better caretaker than you! I'm so glad he's on the upswing.

Beth in NC said...

I'm glad your son is better! He is blessed to have a mommy who is a nurse. :o)

Love,
Beth

Lori said...

I'm so glad to hear he's feeling better. It's been a pretty bad flu season.

Anonymous said...

Am SO glad to hear that your sweetie is feeling better and is on the mend. This can be scary, but should also be approached with an unafraid heart, and trust in our own knowledge and "that guardian angel on our shoulders" that lets us know......"hum.....feel something isn't right!"

Take care you all, am thinking of your family and you are always in our prayers!!

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

Oh mercy...I'm thankful that everything is looking up and that the sickness didn't spread. We've been fortunate. I didn't get the "thing" that Hank had back in September and he didn't get the different thing that I had about three weeks ago. Both kids are hanging in there.

Jen said...

I am glad that he is feeling better. And this was very informative.

christy rose said...

I am so glad that he is doing better and that no one else got sick. Thanks for the great tips on keeping a family healthy at this season of time.

jennykate77 said...

I'm so glad to know that he is better!! That is great news!

You have posted such helpful and useful information! Thank you for all the tips and links. It's so nice to know a nurse. :)

Hope you have a good Monday!

~*Michelle*~ said...

Praise God that he is on his way to feeling better.....He is sure is lucky to have such an awesome mama/nurse by his side.

xox

E @ Scottsville said...

Oh wow, I'm so sorry Julie! I was hardly at my computer all weekend, so I had no idea!

I just read the post below this one, too. I'm so glad that he's already doing so much better!

Unknown said...

Julie,
I, too, am a pediatric nurse and I thought it was true that if you already had H1N1 that you didn't need the vaccination. You do need it for the rest of the family members. Maybe it is b/c they couldn't be certain that is what he had? We have tested all of our patients in our office and there is certainty it was H1N1 b/c seasonal flu is not out yet and b/c the flu test was positive for Flu A, not Flu B. The only ones that get Tamiflu are the high risk kids, pregnant females, or hospitalized anybody. Just wondering. I have personally decided not to take the vaccine for myself or my children, but mostly b/c they are both healthy. We will most likely get it next year.
Wendy

Becca~CapturingSimpleJoys said...

I know I'm, once again, very late at reading this but I'm so thankful he's doing better~how very scary!