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Swine flu is a big deal: stay home
The Advocate
I am writing this article from the comfort of my own home. Not due to the many perks of being a reporter on The Advocate staff, but because my eight-year-old has the swine flu.
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A lot of people probably think, “Big deal, it’s just the flu.” I’m here to tell you that it isn’t “just the flu” to everyone who gets it. There are people who get it, are sick for a day or two with the body aches, fever, cough, runny nose, headache, sometimes some nausea. Those are the people who feel better after a day and go back to work or send their kids back to school. They think they are over it.
My son came down with a 101.4 temperature and a cough on Monday night. I didn’t think much of it, wasn’t a very high fever and he was still up and moving around playing with toys and stuff. Then Tuesday he woke up and his temperature was a little higher. He seemed a little tired, so I kept him home from school. I wasn’t feeling too great myself so I came home early and when I checked his temperature again, his fever was 103.7. This is a kid who has never had a fever before. I was a little freaked out. He was severely fatigued, sleeping for hours at a time, moaning in his sleep. I took him to the doctors, where in a feeble attempt to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu he had to wear a facemask, and he was diagnosed with the big bad swine flu. There was no medicine offered, no testing done, just a warning to watch his breathing, keep him “quarantined” until he went a full 24 hours with no fever, and make sure he drank plenty of fluids.
By Thursday he seemed better. He had been up and playing again, no fever for around 18 hours, and he started eating again. I thought for sure he was getting better. Then he woke me around 3:30 a.m. Thursday burning up again (103.1) and this time complaining of sharp cramping in his stomach. The fatigue was back, he stopped eating, drinking, and even talking. He would lie on the couch zoning out on the TV, slipping in and out of consciousness.
As a mother it’s scary to see the energy and spirit go out of your child in a matter of hours. I wanted to take him back to the doctors and make them give him some “magic” medicinal cure. My voice of reason — his grandmother — reassured me with the fact that the doctor had said it would be at least a week.
So I waited.
Sunday morning I couldn’t wait any longer. His fever hadn’t gone down, his mouth was dry, he was going to the bathroom less, still not eating, and I couldn’t even get him to eat a popsicle. I called the advice nurse who had me bring him back to the doctor because they thought he might be dehydrated. My son complained the whole time that he just wanted to go back home and sleep.
The doctor examined him and diagnosed that the swine flu had turned into viral pneumonia and he was somewhat dehydrated. He prescribed a strong antibiotic for the pneumonia but advised me that it wouldn’t cure the swine flu. He was still quarantined until he has gone 24 hours with no fever. Still, I felt a little bit better having some medicine in my grasp.
This is the sixth day of my nightmare and my son has still not moved from the couch. He still has a fever, and he’s not really eating or drinking much.
I’m here to tell you that it is a big deal and it isn’t “just the flu.” If you have flu-like symptoms, STAY HOME! Don’t go back to work, don’t go back to school, do not go around your family. It’s spreading like wildfire throughout Oregon and the rest of the U.S. You may not have it as bad as my son does, but you could pass it to someone who is more at risk. Try to think about everyone else. I know that’s hard when you have to pay bills, keep your grades up, or need to send your kid to school because of lack of daycare, but remember this flu is killing off people at twice the rate that the seasonal flu does. What if Sam, who you sit next to in biology, has diabetes and you come to school thinking you’re better, and you give him the swine flu? He could get a lot sicker a lot faster and possibly die from acute respiratory distress syndrome in a matter of a week.
I’m not saying this to scare people . . . no, wait, yes I am! I do want to scare you. I want to scare you into taking this flu seriously. It’s not being called a pandemic because the government and CDC are overreacting. The media has not blown it out of proportion. This flu is life-threatening and unless people start to realize that, it’s going to get a lot worse.
So for all of you who are or undoubtedly will get sick, STAY HOME! Think of it as your one good deed for the year.
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