Swine Flu in the Davidson Household

Yep, that's right...that old pig-kissing, bacon-loving virus made a visit to our house recently. It started early last Thursday and hit me all of a sudden, much like regular flu does. I had no energy, was running fever, had a horrible headache, and felt so achey. Chris had a fantasy football event that night and didn't get home until around 9 o'clock that night, and by the time it was time to get Hayden ready for bed, I seriously didn't think I could do it. By Friday, I knew I had to go to the doctor. Hayden went to daycare early Friday morning, and I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 2 o'clock. By lunch-time after several other symptoms appeared, I had a sneaking suspicion that I had the dreaded swine flu.

When the doctor's office checked my temperature and heard my symptoms, they immediately stuck their flu-checking stick in my nose. The results - Negative. I was doing a little happy dance inside. My doctor came in, looked me over, and told me I had the flu - the swine flu. I was confused since the flu test had come back negative, but he said the regular flu test wasn't really catching many swine flu cases (only about 40%). Because I had the symtpoms of the regular flu plus the stomach virus symptoms that swine flu can add, he felt positive that I had come in contact with the swine flu. He told me they could check and send the test off, but by the time the test came back, I would be finished with the virus. He sent me off with a prescription for Tamiflu and a preventative dose of Tamiflu for Chris and told me I would be banished to my house until I was fever free 24-hours. Apparently, my doctor has been seeing cases on and off all summer. Because the regular flu dies off after the cold season ends, they are treating all flu cases right now as swine flu. And, for me, at least, swine flu was different and had a few extra symptoms that you don't get with the regular flu.

I called Chris, who was very concerned and shocked. Our biggest concern was, of course, for Hayden. I had been contagious since Wednesday (one day before symptoms started), and Hayden was with me Wednesday after daycare and all day Thursday. He had been doing typical Hayden things like sticking his fingers in my mouth and feeding me food from his plate. I called his pediatrician, who told me they would not provide preventative Tamiflu for him but only would give him Tamiflu if he actually got the virus. They told me to keep him away from me. I was upset about having to stay away from him, and it definitely threw me for a loop that they wouldn't go ahead and give him Tamiflu. I knew God was in control. Chris would pick Hayden up from daycare and meet my mom, who would stay in a hotel with him to protect my brother's family from getting the virus.

It is so unfortunate how the media has depicted swine flu, because you usually only hear about the extreme doom and gloom cases. Don't dare google about a toddler getting swine flu...it will make you worried sick. Now granted, swine flu made me feel really bad, but I have definitely been much sicker with the regular flu, especially before the wonderful days of Tamiflu. That doesn't mean we should throw caution to the wind and start attending swine flu parties. Have y'all heard about this by the way? Crazy, pure insanity. Look it up if you haven't heard about swine flu parties. Anyway, there are people who get a mildish to regular case of swine flu who might pass it on to someone else that might get really, really, really sick. Elderly, children under 5, and people with pre-existing conditions like asthma are at the biggest risk from getting extremely sick, and there is no vaccine yet to provide us with any immunity. So, that is why they advise so much caution.

Luckily, Chris and Hayden stayed pretty much in the clear. On Saturday, Chris had some of the initial headache and no energy symptoms that I had, but he never got the fever or the other symptoms of the swine flu. The Tamiflu prevented him from getting it, and luckily, Hayden has been just fine. After the hotel stay Friday night, he and my mom went to her house Saturday and have been there since.

Besides being sick and feeling real yucky, the quarantine has been one of the hardest things about this. There are really only so many things you can do when you are banished to your house, but it has been nice to catch up on my sleep and sleep late. If the fever stays away until 4 o'clock today, the quarantine will be over. I still don't feel 100%, but I know that seeing my little boy will make me feel so much better that I won't care about the few symptoms that I still might have. Chris stayed at home from work today to prevent taking some of my swine flu germs up there, and if all goes well today, Chris plans on picking Hayden up from daycare late this afternoon and bringing him home finally! :o)

According to my doctor, he expects the number of swine flu cases to increase drastically since school is starting. Apparently, Mississippi State University is getting hit hard by it right now. So, wash your hands and be safe. And, if you get sick, stay away from people just in case! Oh, and don't go around kissing any pigs or eating too many ribs...you can just send the ribs along to me! :o)