Germs

Wow, what a year it has been with illness at our house. We were fairly lucky through December, but on NYE, Leah had a slight fever and seemed to be getting "just a cold". The following week, she & Lacey both threw up and the next day (Jan 7) were positive for Strep throat. (I never knew that Strep could make you vomit, but my BFF's kids tend to throw up when they get it.)

The next week, Leah threw up at daycare (Jan 12) and came home early. Kids have to stay home for 24 hours after they've been sick (fever or vomiting), so she was home on Thursday, too. It appeared to be a weird "one and done" thing, or maybe upset tummy from antibiotics or something. And, I seem to have picked up either a bad cold or strep around that time, too. I took a full dose of antibiotics that I had gotten on another doctor's visit and didn't take. (That urgent care center always prescribes something....but, I really didn't think I needed it that other time.)

We seemed to be doing a little better for a week or 2. Then, Leah threw up at 4 a.m. on Feb. 2nd. Sadly, wasn't a "one and done" thing. That poor girl did it about 10x in 6 hours. Then, a couple of additional times throughout the day. Ugh. What a day. I consider myself lucky, though, because she seems to be pretty good about not making messes! While kids can't really make it to a toilet fast enough, if you give her a bowl, she does well with using it!!! So, the whole day I was cleaning big bowls and switching them out for her.

She decided to share her germs with me. I got it a couple of days later. Luckily, no vomiting, but "the other". And, I laid on the couch for 2 straight days. Literally. No energy. No appetite. Fever off and on. Miserable. I really wasn't back to normal for about 5 days.

Then, we had 1 normal week (of no sick days and no snow days) before Lacey was sick again. She had a fever on Feb. 13 and I took her to the Ped After Hours. She was negative for strep, but the doctor thought it looked like it and prescribed Augmentin (since she'd JUST had strep a few weeks before, they wanted to give a stronger antibiotic). It tasted especially icky. Even with special flavoring from the pharmacy. And, Lacey only got 2-3 doses before I couldn't fight her anymore. I rationalized that (1) she had tested negative; and (2) she hadn't complained of her throat hurting much. I called the After Hours Tuesday night to see if the lab results were back and they weren't. She went to school Tuesday and Wednesday, but had a fever again on Wednesday night. I called the After Hours place again....the lab results were positive for strep. :-(

They changed the antibiotic to Amoxicillin. She normally takes that fine, but I think since the other had been so bad, she just had that in her mind. Wednesday night, we fought and talked and negotiated for an hour. Butch held her down and I squirted it in. Lacey spit it out. Ugh. What a night. She finally took it on her own.

I had punished her for not taking it easily by taking away all "screen time" (TV, computer and Wii). By 9:30 on Thursday, she was bored. She took her meds. She got the Wii. And, we agreed she'd get 50 cents for each dose. That will give her $10 at the end to buy something fun at Target.

Seriously, these germs need to go. We've been spraying with Lysol, washing hands, using Purell, wiping down everything (toys, tables, remotes, phones) with Clorox wipes. Ugh. But, they keep bringing things home from school and daycare.

When I read recently that cold & flu season is worse this year, it was no surprise to me! Many of my friends with little kids are having similar problems this year.