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Swine Flu – Our Family’s Experience
It started with a sore throat, a “burning hot” sore throat, my daughter called it. That’s when I knew we were probably in trouble. H1N1 is spiking in our state with over 200 school closings last week alone.
That was 4 p.m Thursday. By bedtime, her fever was 101.5. That’s when I had to break it to her that she’d miss Friday’s field trip. At that point, the disappointment was worse than the flu.
By Friday morning, she no longer cared. She was sick. Here’s our experience with the swine flu:
Day 1: Sore throat, growing fever, normal activity levels.
Day 2: Sore throat, productive cough coming from her throat (not lungs), headache, fatigue, body aches, runny nose, and a high fever — 103.5 and holding steady, even with medication. We were prescribed Tamiflu, but had to do a little legwork to find the pediatric version.
The medication was of little use that first day, though, because a few hours later she started vomiting.
By bedtime, her fever was hitting 104. A short ride in the car did what Tylenol couldn’t. Thank goodness for cool fall weather.
Day 3: More of the miserable same, though by midnight the night before the vomiting had thankfully stopped. She’d been refusing to eat or drink since the morning before, so most of the day was spent cajoling her into taking sips of Gatorade and letting her nap on the couch. At 2 p.m. I gave her some Tylenol and tucked her into bed. Four hours later she woke up drenched in sweat and freezing. Fever broken!
Day 4: Low grade fever and a gaggy cough. Two tuna fish sandwiches and a huge glass of Gatorade for lunch. Relief.
Day 5: Fever is mostly gone, and her activity levels are improving. She’s still coughing, though, so there’s a lot of yelling “Quit running around!” going on here.
I’m hopeful that Day 6 will bring more improvement, and that we can breathe a sigh of relief that she’s beaten H1N1. We sent our preschooler to Grandma’s for the weekend, but there’s little doubt she’s been exposed. So we wait a little anxiously to see what happens next.
Here’s what stood out to me most during our experience with H1N1:
- That fever. This is definitely the sickest my first grader has been, but she doesn’t get sick much. My preschooler was sicker when she had seasonal flu two years ago (but she also wasn’t given Tamiflu). Even when we got her temp down to 102.5 or so, she still felt like a furnace. She complained that even her eyeballs were hot.
- Its speed. On Friday, there were 10 kids absent from their small school (200 kids), which is normal. Today, there are 60 absent, and the school has been closed for the week.
- The variety of opinions from our medical community. “Don’t treat it,” said our pediatrician. “Here’s some Tamiflu and an antibiotic for good measure,” said our family doctor, who also said, “It’s probably seasonal.” The ER doctor — who we saw when the vomiting started and we were concerned she was getting dehydrated — said that almost all of the flu is swine right now, and a positive influenza A culture proved it. In the past two weeks, I’ve had one doctor tell me to stay away from the vaccine, another tell me to get it the first chance I could. (The rest of us will be getting the vaccine when we can.) It’s hard to know who to listen to or what to believe when the healthcare providers you trust aren’t on the same page.
- The contagious period: At school, the rule is that kids don’t return until they’re fever-free for 24 hours. Her doctor told us to keep her home for seven days.
So that’s our experience … your mileage may vary. Based on what friends and relatives are telling me, I think the Tamiflu probably shortened her illness by a day or so, so I’d expect an untreated kid to have that high fever a little longer.
Today, someone compared H1N1 to a “tidal wave” of illness, and I think that’s very appropriate. We’ve been reading about it for six months, but the warning signs locally appeared just days before the illness became widespread. I’d just started to consider keeping the kids home from extracurriculars — or possibly even school — when it showed up in our house.
Has H1N1 hit your house or community yet? What was your experience like?
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Poo Poo Pouch Prevents the Dreaded “Number 3″ | Strollerderby commented on Nov 12 09 at 11:01 amMistress_Scorpio commented on Oct 26 09 at 8:46 pmWow, Bethany. Thanks for sharing that. My son is in daycare, and I just heard today that 4 kids were out with fevers over 102. I’m nervous.
Anonimon commented on Oct 26 09 at 8:48 pmMy son just spiked a fever today. I am hoping that it is quick and not too horrible for him.
Manjari commented on Oct 26 09 at 9:22 pmSounds like it was rough. I’m so glad she’s getting better! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Celina commented on Oct 27 09 at 12:24 amWe had nothing like this. We had the high fevers, but they went down with medication. My kids were perky through the whole thing, the cough didn’t get too bad. I also put our whole family in quarantine for a week, while we all came down one after another. I didn’t send them back until they’d been fever free for 3 days. My eldest was still wiped that first day back. For anyone worried about this, I’d recommend doing a big shopping, making sure you are stocked up so you can just shut down if you need to.
Catem commented on Oct 27 09 at 2:31 amWe too had high fevers (one kid’s went to 104.2 which did freak me a bit) but no vomiting thankfully, especially since the one with the highest fever easily barfs. We stayed home that week from school but didn’t hear about others in that class being sick. Our ped didn’t want to do anything but Motrin/Tylenol unless it went past 3 days with the high fever. Didn’t want to test for h1n1 either. I suppose that if we’d had vomiting and/or breathing issues, they’d ER us quickly.
Good advice to stock up so you don’t have to go out… I was sicker than I’d ever been too… horrible headache, cough, stuffy head – it seemed more like a horrid cold than a flu though, fwiw.
Glad you’re all better – this is nothing to mess with and I too have no idea about what to do w/the vax. Some docs say yes, some are saying wait and see how virulent the season is. We’re in NoCal, btw.
Lorraine commented on Oct 27 09 at 11:20 amOur experience with swine flu was much like Celina’s. High fevers were controlled with meds and everyone was mostly tired a lot. It was relatively mild; we were all sick about a week total, but only two of those days were bad. No vomiting either. It just seemed like a bad cold. We’re not getting the vaccine since we all tested positive for Influenza A.
Ali commented on Oct 27 09 at 1:47 pmI owuld never feed my kids tuna fish. Full of high levels of mercury. Salmon would be a better alternative. http://www.pbs.org/now/science/mercuryinfish.html
MomofBeans commented on Oct 27 09 at 1:48 pmJust wanted to thank you for posting this. It was incredibly helpful just to see your timeline.
kellyannecat commented on Oct 27 09 at 1:55 pmThanks for sharing this! Excellent post. I’m glad your little one is feeling better.
Laure68 commented on Oct 27 09 at 8:23 pmThank you for posting this. I want to especially thank you for framing this as your family’s experience, and that others may have other experiences. I have heard people say things like “I know someone who had the swine flu, it was no big deal for them so it is no big deal in general.”
Sabrina commented on Oct 27 09 at 10:14 pmMy husband and I got it. Fever, coughing that hung on for a MONTH after the illness was gone, aches and pains, sleepiness, and the secondary infections. Husband for a lung infection, I got a sinus infection. The kids didn’t catch it, but preschool here is *just* now starting, so they’re going to have another chance. :(
Amanda commented on Oct 28 09 at 10:00 amIt’s just hitting here as well. Finding myself vacilating between abject panic and pragmatism. This helps.
Rosana commented on Oct 28 09 at 10:53 amThank you for sharing your experience. It is not the same thing to read the symptoms and what could happen to actually know a story about how it happens. Your story definitely cleared up a few things for us.
Rosana commented on Oct 28 09 at 10:57 amAli, albacore tuna is the one with high levels of mercury and regular tuna is safe in just two sandwiches since you can eat at least 12ounces of it a week with no problems. At the same time, her daughter did not eat or drink anything for 24 hours which is a lot more dangerous than eating tuna. I don’t even know what your posting has to do with the essay at all.
bethanysanders commented on Oct 28 09 at 11:36 amFor the record, she DID drink in those 24 hours, and had a little jello and applesauce. It was just pulling teeth getting her to, but we pushed her to drink a couple of sips every five minutes or so. Kids can go without eating for a day, but hydration is VERY important — as you said, Rosana — especially when they’re feverish.
And an update: Day 6 saw her take a step backwards, which worried me, since a returning fever can be a sign of a secondary infection. But she rallied and is doing well. This is definitely a 7 day illness though. Our preschooler was vaccinated yesterday with the live vaccine, after a 2.5 hour wait in line — over 1,000 people showed up!
Pam commented on Oct 28 09 at 6:20 pmThank you so much for posting your comments. My 14 year old son has had it for 6 days now. He has had a fever of 101-103 during most of that time except for brief breaks. He’s sleeping 14-16 hours a day. His pediatrician is one of those that is NOT prescribing Tamiflu instead telling parents to treat the symptoms. He is still very sick and is going to the pediatrician tomorrow. I can only think that if he had received the Tamiflu his suffering would have been far less.
Eliza commented on Oct 28 09 at 11:12 pmMy husband has been down with it for the past 7 days and it is really pretty scary. Fevers very high, spiking up and down, chills, rigors (shakes), night sweats, so weak he cannot have a conversation. Taking Tamiflu. I have debated whether to take him to the hospital a couple of times but after speaking to doctor, decided to treat symptoms and wait… but if he gets any worse I am going to reconsider. (More shortness of breath, any chest pain.) He is a previously very healthy young man (early 30s). I had H1N1 in June; not sure if kids had it or not and very much hoping they did.
Laurie commented on Oct 30 09 at 7:13 pmComments
I’m assuming that all three of my kids have this currently. One of my sons came down w/symptoms last Sunday. Fever, cough, chills, headache, slight sore throat, and slight body aches. I assumed the worst, and took him in the following day. Dr. refused to test him and wouldn’t prescribe Tamiflu. My other two kids came down w/ a bit different symptoms a few days later. One had a high fever for a day, and then seemed to do okay, although, still had a low grade fever the following day. My daughter had a slight fever and is now congested. She also has complained of headaches off and on. That’s about it. The first child to come down w/it is on day 6 and still has a low grade fever between 99.0 and 100.2. Seems to go up in the afternoon. He also still has a cough that was nonstop yesterday, but seems to be a bit better today. I almost took him in today, but figured the low grade wasn’t too worrisome, and he says he feels okay. I’ve heard the fever can last for a week or more. Very strange that this hit my kids so differently. I’m also upset that Dr’s refuse to test for confirmation. If the virus can be mild in some, then those same people are going to work and school infecting others. Parents should be able to know what they’re dealing with. If I want to pay for the test, I should be able to. The media and CDC have no idea the actual numbers of infected people, when no one is testing anymore. You also can’t believe what you read about in regards to the symptoms. It affects people differently. I read recently that a runny/stuffy nose is an indication of a cold, not H1N1. Well, my son who has had a fever for 6 days now, had a very stuffy/runny nose on day 5 of this flu. So you can’t believe everything that’s reported. I have to wonder if the reason they aren’t testing, is so that people will still go out and get the vaccine. And while I know that H1N1 is the dominant flu right now, it still makes me wonder when my other two children had such mild symptoms. I guess we’ll just never know…
Laurie commented on Oct 30 09 at 7:24 pmI agree. The tuna fish comment was strange. What does that have to do with the flu?
Ashley commented on Nov 01 09 at 12:11 pmCommentsI was thinking the same thing about the tuna comment! She took the time to share her family’s experience about having the flu and all you have to say is a silly comment about tuna?? Anyway, thank you Bethany for sharing your experience. Hope everyone is doing better.
OhioDad commented on Nov 02 09 at 1:45 pm3 kids and I have had this. Oldest (10) seems to be effected more by fatigue than the others. Fevers between 99.9 and 101.0, nothing higher. No cough, even with my daughter with asthma. Our two lingering problems are the fever and the fatigue. I am going on 12 days with a fever (low grade to 100.5). All 3 of my kids have had fevers for 8 days+. They all had Tamiflu which I think helped their symptoms and did help avoid the high fevers. We just can’t seem to kick it. My oldest was started on an antibiotic and they other two are scheduled to see the Dr. again today. At this point I think everything that we are experiencing could be secondary to the flu. We have to have some other type of infection going on. We were completely opposed to the vaccine before this, but I have never felt like an illness (let alone the flu) was going to kill me. Now all of our kids are getting the vaccine. If it mutates and returns in a more severe form, I feel for the parents that have made the decision not to vaccinate. Anyone else experiencing lingering fever?
Belinda V Long commented on Nov 03 09 at 4:47 pmI have the swine flue right now, and yes I should be resting but I hurt too badly to rest. My face hurts, my neck, my arms and legs, my throat is only mildly sore and my fever has been steady at about 101. My nose is either running like mad or stuffy and I am freezing cold despite having only a low fever. I called the doctor about my two year old and they are scripting him Tamiflu to help protect him from it.
BethRoswellGeorgia commented on Nov 05 09 at 9:23 pmMy 10 year old got this in early September – Began at 4:00am with constant coughing then fever that spiked to 105.7 for 3 days straight and then stayed around 102.3 the next 3 days with alternating Motrin/Tylenol every 4 hours. On the 6th day of fever we took her to doctor and she tested positive for Type A Influenza which they said was swine flu. She was fever free 8th day and returned to school on the 9th day. Next child – Oct. 27th I took my 7 year old to get the Nasal Swine Flu vaccine and we both got it at the health dept after waiting 4 hours. On the 31st she started feeling bad with chills, cough and fever of 102.6 We are now on the 6th day and she has continued to have fever between 99.6 – 101.2. Took her to the doctor 2 days ago and he said she had swine flu and was probably already coming down before she had the vaccine or got it right after she had the vaccine. I asked him to test her and she was negative for swine flu. He said she definately has it because 50% of the false results are not correct but he told me that if you test positive there is no doubt you have it. She stays fever free most of the day and then in late afternoon everyday she has terrible chills, cough becomes worse and she has this low grade fever. She has missed school all week and I pray that this fever will stop. My teenagers are going for the vaccine tomorrow!
cK commented on Nov 06 09 at 7:36 pmMy son is in Day 5 of H1N1. Day 4 saw almost no fever until the evening when his fever was back up to 100.5. This has continued all day. His spirits are definitely better than Days 1-3, but he is exhausted. He has fallen asleep on the couch at around 6:30 on Day 4 and 5. This never happens, so we know he is still fighting it. I took him to the doctor (Day 5) as the CDC web site says that a recurrence of fever after going away could be an emergency situation. The doctor checked his lungs for respiratory infection and he was clear. I hope this clears up soon and it doesn’t go on for 12 days.
Richard Cheese commented on Nov 14 09 at 10:00 amYou took your kid to the fucking ER for flu? Jesus christ it’s a bad cold not fucking AIDS. The US is a nation of morons.
barbjanov commented on Nov 14 09 at 5:39 pmComments
My son age five, had it for twelve days, fever spiked to 105, chest congestion warranted xray on day five, continual high fever called for blood test on day eleven. His brothers coughed deeper and wetter, yet no fevers for them at all. The baby had a 102 and a cough, but since we’d seen the worst with the five year old, the baby nor the others went to the doctor. By this point I felt I should dodge secondary infections.Flu test NEGATIVE! Doc said, it was the swine flu, however, now that the shots are available he said, get them anyway. We won’t. I do have a concern, this began two days after many of his classmates had received the seasonal flu mist.
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