So Alex may or may not have the Swine Flu. He's got a flu, that much seems certain, and according to the doctors and nurses I've spoken with recently, Swine Flu is actually more common right now than the regular seasonal flu. Alex just got his seasonal flu shot, so everyone is assuming he's got the Swine Flu. John thinks the flu shot gave him the regular flu. Who knows. What I do know is my little boy's sick and that sucks.
All the hype and drama about the Swine Flu has me more worried about Alex being sick than usual, which, considering I barely manage my children's illnesses without going into a full blown panic attack before the Swine Flu craziness, you can imagine when Alex was moping around with a 102 degree fever on Saturday evening, I freaked right the hell out. I spent over an hour on the phone Sunday morning trying to talk to a nurse because I was unwilling to take my poor feverish sick baby boy off his comfy spot on the sofa and into a Swine Flu infested urgent care clinic. The nurse talked to a pediatrician and the pediatrician called in a prescription for Tamiflu and Albuterol. Since Alex has asthma, he's at a higher risk than other kids of developing more serious respritory complications.
So, I gave him the Tamiflu yesterday afternoon. He only got about half of it in his mouth and spit the other half out, then later, he threw up. We spent the day and night giving him Tylenol to keep his now 103.5 degree fever down, cool baths, washcloths, etc and this morning he doesn't appear to have a fever at all. This morning, he's eaten a pancake and acting more or less normal, albeit with a stuffy nose, and I'm thinking, maybe I prematurely freaked out about him having the flu (wouldn't be the first time I freaked out before there was anything to freak out about). Yesterday I called the nurse before he had any wheezing because I wanted to try to preemtively head off an asthma attack. But now I'm thinking, maybe he would have been fine. Alex doesn't want to take the Tamiflu today, he's afraid it will make him throw up again. I'm inclined to agree. I've always been uncomfortable giving a kid already on the mend medication. But, I was told by the pharmacist to give him the full round of the medication even if it appears he's getting better. But here I'm looking at him and thinking, I'm not sure if it was the Tamiflu that is making him better now because I'm not sure he even got much of his first dose.
So, do I give him the Tamiflu that makes him throw up and feel sicker when he's already feeling better? The thing is, if I don't give it to him, and he gets worse again, I don't think Tamiflu will work for him if we try it again because you're supposed to give it to them within the first 12-24 hours of flu symptoms. GAH!
I don't think I'm going to. John agrees. Alex doesn't want to take it. I don't blame him. I have the Albuterol and at the first sign of wheezing I'll take him straight to the ER if the puffer doesn't help.
I hate it when my boys are sick. It's awful watching your baby be miserable and not knowing what to do to help them but DESPERATELY wanting to make it all better.
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