We've been on the go since 7:00 last night. Joel had a slight headache, minimal fever and cough yesterday. Because of his CP, we were debating about how pro-active we should be with this whole H1N1 scare. Do we wait to see if he gets worse before doing something about it? If we wait too long, can anything be done? We decided to go to the walk-in clinic and the doc there said everything looked fine, besides a little fluid in his ears. Nothing to worry about.
Fast forward to this morning. Joel was extremely hot and was pretty out of it while Mike was getting him dressed. Mike was putting Joel's pants on, but Joel kept asking, "Why are you changing my diaper? I'm not wet!". He must have said this at least five times. Any other day, we would have kept Joel home from school. But he was excited because of the party-type things happening (movie, pizza, dance etc). So, we loaded him up with Advil and sent him off.
I had a prenatal appt. this morning at 9:00. As soon as the bus left with Joel, Mike changed his mind and wanted to take Joel to the family doctor, to piggy back on my appointment (our doc has said that Joel never needs an appointment...just to come in). So, we went to the school and loaded Joel up in the van. Doc checked over the symptoms...fever and raspy cough...and ended up doing a H1N1 swab. He prescribed the anti-viral med of Tamiflu. He also advised we keep Joel at home. When we told Joel this, he freaked out and started crying. We decided his freaking out would only make things worse (more coughing, make his headache worse etc.) So, we dropped Joel back off at school.
Then, we went to Walmart to fill the prescription. While there, we loaded up on more things for Baby (more specifically, pink things for Baby). Then, it was back to the school to give Joel the Tamiflu and more Advil. We came home and Mike promptly went to bed and I headed off to EI. While waiting in line at EI, Mike phoned me to say Joel had thrown up at school and needed to be picked up. I finished with my appt and went to get Joel. It's now 2:30pm and Joel is finally tucked into bed for some much needed sleep. I, myself, am trying to keep as far away from him as possible.
I'm just so tired of all this H1N1 scare/hype/pandemic. I really think the media is making it out to be worse than it actually is. It's not the actual flu that can kill you...it's the pneumonia or respiratory illness that accompanies it that does the actual damage. Mike and the boys will be getting the vaccine, no question. For me, I haven't made up my mind. There is a Q&A sesson at the public library on Tuesday night (for pregnant women). I will decide after that. The idea of taking a vaccination that has had zero testing scares the bah-jeezus out of me. I honestly feel like I would rather take my chances with catching the actual flu than taking the shot. We'll see though...the dates planned for vaccinating PA have been pushed back. I'll probably be a mom before the vaccines actually do show up.
And since I don't really have any humour to inject into this post, kindly entertain yourself by making a farting noise with your mouth :-)
I'm still on the fence about the vaccine, but leaning a little towards not getting it. Not that I'm worried about the shot itself, but I'm at pretty low risk and we apparently don't have many doses coming our way. I'd rather go without and just stay away from the general public and use hand sanitizer a lot and try to avoid getting sick and leave the vaccines for people who actually need them.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, this flu seems to affect younger people harder than a regular flu, so I am tempted to get it.
I just don't know!
It's such a tough call and I just feel torn between the two sides...1) get the vaccine and run the risks of dealing with side effects (ended up with a child with autism or some other unforeseen ailment) or (2) don't get the vaccine, get the swine flu and die.
ReplyDeleteI just don't know either :-)
Jyl, I think you should get the vaccine.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually on the fence about vaccines (and I'm a nurse, so don't tell my employer), but my main concern (from my own personal research) is for children under 5, not adults. As for being worried during pregnancy, this vaccine is not a live one, and the flu vaccine has been around for many years and pregnant women have been getting it for many years.
I'm seriously not trying to scare you...seriously don't get scared, that is not my intention. But my good friend who I went to nursing school with is a Public Health nurse in Calgary. She gets the daily e-mails, etc. from government. For some reason this flu targets pregnant women. She said right now there are 3 pregnant women on respirators in Calgary. Her own sister is pregnant with twins and due in Jan., so she gave her the immunization herself. She said if she had any safety qualms at all she would not vaccinate her own sister and her 2 nieces/nephews to come.
But the decision is ultimately up to you; that is what she e-mailed me this morning. Even if you don't get the vaccine when it becomes available, another thing you could do (if it's possible) is to live at someone else's house until your son is better. Just a suggestion.
As for myself, I am getting it only b/c I work in healthcare (& directly in isolation), but I have not decided for my children.
Let me just say again, this e-mail is just out of concern, not to scare or intimidate, and I respect that everyone makes their own decision, and I have not even fully made mine.
Jessica, I really appreciate your advice and input. You didn't scare me :-), but it is just such a tough choice to make and I feel like I don't have all the info I need to make the decision. And I guess until the vaccine becomes available in our city, I don't have to make a decision yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this Q&A session and I'm interested in seeing whether the health care officials seem to be for or against it. I'm hoping they stay as non-biased as possible and just present the info.
I do like knowing that your friend felt confident in giving her sister the injection. That's one point to the "for" side. Plus, my psychiatrist (that feels funny saying that) is freshly pregnant and she is getting the shot (the non-adjuvant one), so that's two points to the good.
Thank you again...I really appreciate it.
And I actually do have somewhere I can go stay if the boys are still sick on Sunday (Colby came home from school and was throwing up). My parents are away on holidays and they only live a block away from here. I may just have to do that!
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone. I have heard that a bit from people in healthcare, that they haven't given us enough information to make a decision.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been following any of this stuff until about a week ago. We don't get the paper or watch the news. I had concerns because they were fast-tracking the approval.
Then I talked to a paediatrican at work and the H1N1 vaccine is essentially made the same way as the flu vaccine, and it would have been included in that had they had time. So that made me feel better.
I still have concerns with children under 5, but I am not going to worry about it until it is actually available, like yourself. Who knows if they'll come out with a new guideline that day, they run out, or my kids have a fever and can't get it. No use worrying until then.
Also, just a note to prepare yourself that the health officials I'm sure will be recommending it. My pro-vaccination friend is continually sending me links to websites like the WHO. I don't like being bombarded with that stuff. I do believe in vaccinations, but only when truly necessary. I know they're good, but they also have a risk (some more than others). But I don't like being bullied into making a decision that I have qualms about.
I just wanted you to know that I DID actually make a farting noise with my mouth after I had read your post....AND I would like to hear about the info you get from the Q and A at the library, if you could pass it on I would appreciate it. Hope Joel starts to feel better soon.
ReplyDelete