The Princess and the Virus

Our poor Princess came down with H1N1 this week! And it would figure that the Dad is out of the country for 2 weeks, and her illness came just at the start of his trip. She started running a high temp Sunday night and a cough started right away as well. Monday she still hadn't shown any improvement. I saw a parent of a boy she goes to preschool with (they live on our street) and he said his boys had similar symptoms the previous week and their pediatrician prescribed Tamiflu - an anti-viral to treat influenza - and the dr. thought it was likely the boys had H1N1. I emailed our dr. right away and he also prescribed Tamiflu that I was to pick up that evening. She was one sick little girl.

I don't know how single parents handle sick kids, but I take my hat off to them! My mom came over so I could go get the medication. Then, she took the Buddy back to her house to spend the night. He's been waking up at 5 AM, and I knew the Princess would be awake during the night and I would be exhausted if I had to be up with her & then get up early with him. He's spending the night again tonight. My parents are amazing with the help they've given me (and everyone is just hoping no one else gets sick).

I also have wonderful friends. I knew I could call my visiting teacher from Church to have her pick up some groceries for me so I wouldn't have to take the Princess out today. My other friend called me early this morning to see if I needed help getting the Buddy to school. She ended up coming over after dropping off her own kids to sit with the Princess so I could take him to school. Lots of other friends have offered help, so I have a great network of people to draw on if I need it.

The Tamiflu seems to be helping a lot. She still has a fever, but that should start improving, and her cough is better, though she's lost her voice a little. She'll probably miss school & gymnastics the rest of the week. I'm grateful I talked to that dad yesterday afternoon because I probably wouldn't have contacted my dr. for another day or so.

As has as it is having the Dad gone while kids are sick, I feel like we're all being taken care of - and I am definitely not alone!