As I cleaned up vomit and diarrhea a few weeks ago, several thoughts crossed my mind. How do you know when it's the H1N1 virus (swine flu) or just the "regular" flu? Should you rush your child in to get tested or let it run its course? How do I keep other family members from getting sick? A simple call to an advice nurse may get you some answers, but if you call back and get a different nurse you'll basically get a different response. So, when do you worry?
About 3 weeks ago, my youngest son, Myles, developed a fever and threw up (once). By the end of the next day, he appeared to be better. Fever was gone, he never threw up again and he was generally back to his "normal" self. At first I thought he had a minor bug in him and had shook it quickly. That would have been great, except a day later, it was back but even worse. His fever was higher than before, he was vomiting everything that went into his mouth and he added diarrhea to the list as well ("You're welcome, Mom!")
The first thought that came to mind was dehydration. If I can't keep anything in him, he could become seriously dehydrated. So I kept offering him diluted apple juice since it's the only thing he won't refuse. I realized the juice would aggravate the diarrhea situation, but he wouldn't drink anything else. However, after 4 days of this with no end in sight you start to wonder....Is this more serious than I thought? Time to call the advice nurse; let's see what she thinks.
Since this was my 2nd time calling in less than a week, I pretty much expected to get similar instructions as before. Keep him comfortable with acetaminophen, offer diluted juice or Pedialyte 1 ounce at a time and plain white rice or crackers. Naturally, she said all of these things but also thought a doctor needed to see him. Hmmm.....so now do I worry? Once at the doctor, any and all worries were quickly dismissed. With a good dosage of fever reducer in him, he was acting "normal". His behavior put the doc at ease because he said a kid that was really bad off would not respond so well to the acetaminophen. Whew! We all let out a sigh of relief.
Within a couple more days, the symptoms began to disappear. The fever went first, followed by the vomiting and eventually the diarrhea. There.....all better!! Now how do we stop this from happening again? Obviously, you cannot avoid all germs out there. You even need some of them to be balanced. There are some preventative measures we can all take, though, to minimize our exposure to these nasty germs.
First of all, take a lesson from Elmo. Huh? Yes, Elmo (check out his PSA videos here); even he knows what to do! When you feel a cough or sneeze coming on, do so into a tissue or the fold of your arm. This can help prevent airborne particles from spreading to others. Secondly, handwash, handwash, handwash. I can't say it enough and I don't think other people do it enough. This simple, yet effective method of ridding yourself of germs needs to be practiced more. Hopefully, doctors will follow suit and wash their hands before they see you or your child (just a little observation I made). Finally, avoid those who appear to be sickly. This would include handshaking, kissing or sharing items with them. You would think that common sense would prevail when it comes to keeping yourself healthy. Unfortunately, far too many people throw caution to the wind and make themselves more susceptible to getting sick.
After my toddler's bout with the flu (he actually shared it with a couple of other family members, too....how thoughtful of him!), I can definitely say I'm more aware about the spread of illnesses. At times I take this knowledge for granted since I don't usually get sick myself. However, I know for a fact that I don't want any of my family members to be one of the 200,000 patients who end up hospitalized each year because of the flu. So, no worrying after all. Just keeping myself informed and my family protected!
