This stuff is not a Media Scare ...

With the way media works anymore these days you wonder what is fact, and what is more of a scare tactic. This whole PANDEMIC N1H1/SWINE FLU!! Has made me wonder the truth behind all the scare. That question turned into a reality at our house and hit home harder than I ever thought it could.

SATURDAY: It started with a small cough out of Maysen’s mouth Saturday morning. Considering he’d been fighting an ear infection and pink eye I sort of thought he was battling drainage and that was all there was to it.

By Saturday night at 5:00pm he was in bed, fast asleep (which for any of those that know Maysen, that was truly a rare event) with a 102F fever.

SUNDAY came and the fevers continued as did the cough for Maysen. Motrin AND Tylenol became a round-the-clock medication and when I let the Tylenol lapse for 1hr his fever spiked to 105.2. One episode of puke, but that's it.

MONDAY: The cough caught up to me, but I had no fever and Maysen’s fever seemed to stabilize.

TUESDAY: Nate went to work, Griffin started a runny nose, and Maysen’s fever started to dwindle but cough remained. By the afternoon, though, his fever was pretty much gone (maybe 100.4) and he was ripping the house up! Burning around chasing the cats, wanting to go outside, etc.

WEDNESDAY: 1:00am Wednesday morning, I awoke to Maysen coughing his little heart out. It was a dry non-productive cough and he just couldn’t sleep. Griffin was also running a fever by now and was up off and on all night. I woke up at 3:00am absolutely FREEZING to find my fever was nearly 103F.

Nate took the day off Wednesday to take care of everyone. I called the pediatrician and got Griffin on Tamiflu, but learned what I had worried about – nothing to do for Maysen nor I … just treat symptoms, which we were doing. Man I forgot how bad fevers hurt. Ouch..what surprised me was how hard Maysen kept coughing. He was coughing so hard he was making himself sick. Every time he’d fall asleep he’d wake up 20min later, he started refusing to eat, and when Nate finally laid down with him, I sat – and watched him. Nurse radar went off when I heard him grunting. I pulled the covers back and saw his little chest flailing. “You got about 5 seconds to get your shoes on and get him in the van”. Off to the ER they flew. I still had my 103 fever, so I stayed home with Griffin.

Upon arrival to ER is oxygen saturation was 88% (should be upper 90s). His respiration rate was near 60 (should be 20s). He just couldn’t breathe! He was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and N1H1.

THURSDAY: My fever had broke so I was able to go to the hospital and give Nate a break. That morning he was still having a hard time breathing. Through the night his oxygen was dropping to 89% so he was having to wear continuous oxygen through the night. He also threw up again out of nowhere. But, when I got there, he was off oxygen and resting well. The doctor came in and said that if he stabilized out while he slept he could go home, only because it was safer for Mase to recover at home versus in the hospital. There were so many sick kids in the hospital the doctor didn’t want to risk Maysen getting more sick. I shut cartoons off and Mase was asleep before I knew it. Our prayers were answered and his oxygen stayed 92-94%. The doctor discharged us that night and we couldn’t have been happier ... but not before the nurse came in and said the culture came back POSTIVE for N1H1/Swine Flu. 2 nasal cultures, 2 IV pokes, 4 rounds of antibiotics, 3 trips to the radiology department, and 2 hospital chocolate shakes later and we were out of there!

Today we’re all home. Maysen is acting like he’s never been sick. Griffin’s nose is still running but he’s fighting with his brother like nothing’s wrong. I’m still coughing and man does my chest burn. It luckily goes away with Advil so I’m hoping that goes away sooner than later. I’m the only one not on Tamiflu and from looking at the kids, it seems like a miracle drug! We’re ready to carve pumpkins tonight since we won’t have much of a Halloween this year. We’re considering having some friends put out more candy next week and act like it’s Halloween. I don’t have the heart to not put his Scooby Doo costume on tomorrow, but at this point can’t risk spreading the epidemic.

Thanks to all who passed on thoughts and prayers our way. Not one went unappreciated.

Pumpkins 2009

This time again ... PUMPKIN PATCH! We seem to go every year to Lone Pine and this year was no different. It included a Sunday morning ... bitterly chilly and thankful to have coats ... and outragiously priced hotdogs that end up in the gravel. Splendid. But the kids really enjoy it and so we do it ... to live vicariously through them I suppose. We get a "family" of pumkins, one for each of us, that sits on the porch closer to Halloween.

Picking out his pumpkin took 3.2 seconds. It was the closest to where our wagon stopped.

Mase takes a bit more time in his selection process. Many times he's putting in his two cents into what everyone else should be getting.

Gathered up thinking, "When in the world is this thing going to take off ... because I'm going to throw these boots over the side one more time if it doesn't hurry!" (Twas Fin thinking these thoughts)

Trying to convince Griffin this was, oh indeed, fun. It worked once we hit the orange glowing mass that was the pumpkin patch....

After attempting to eat gravel-infested hotdogs, the brilliant cow "rollercoaster" (55 gallon drums cut out like cow carts driven by 4 wheeler and charge $3 a head ... genius) was ridden. Little one, not so sure. Big one, best thing around.

Lately we're having to play "ghost" which is a festive driven game. All lights get shut off minus the Thomas the Train flashlight, which boasts is annoying "chugga chugga SHHHhhffhfhfhfhfhf" with each flicker of light. Nate will pretend to hide down the hall and when the kids get close he jumps out and yells something to the effect of "Booga Boooga Boooga." Surprisingly it continues to make them jump. Whatever.

Mom got news that Middlefield Oaks has an opening. She saw the doctor today who wrote her orders to move in, so Nate and I are shopping for furniture for her new little apartment there and we'll be moving her in! She seems excited and I can't wait to get her involved in more activities such as bridge. It's good having her close.