Wednesday, April 29, 2009

swine flu

so i don't typically worry about things like this....but having a child with health problems has made me a bit more paranoid than i normally would be. i live in dallas, and there have been reported cases of swine flu here....and they are actually closing public schools in fort worth until may 11 as a precautionary measure, i honestly wasn't worried at all until i heard this but then i wondered, is it that serious? i mean if fort worth isd is shutting down schools for two weeks, should i be worried? texas has suspended high school sports due to swine flu fears...
and then i read the symptoms:

Symptoms: are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

hmm....well, that could be milo on any given day. he often spikes fevers for no apparent reason, he takes seizure meds so there is your lethargy, his appetite is nonexistent, he has allergies and doesn't swallow his spit very well so that causes coughing...and a runny nose, i would have no way of knowing if his throat was sore, and milo throws up every day, and due to his liquid diet his poop is always runny....so....there you have it.

i realize that when milo has gotten sick in the past i figure out he is sick and it's something more than just his usual issues...but it still makes me worried, what if i didn't notice the symptoms early enough? and milo goes to our children's house for therapy where he is around lots of other kids...they are good about wiping things down between use and i am sure that they are taking all of the necessary precautions since there are immune compromised kids that go there...but again, it still makes me worried.

are any of you taking any special precautions due to this whole swine flu thing?

3 comments:

Keri said...

Wowzers, I'm so with you on this one. Seriously, Milo and Logan are a lot alike when it comes to their health. As the swine flu numbers escalate, I get a bit nervous and don't know what to do. My fear is that I wouldn't catch it in time either. I'm just trying not to panic.

jocalyn said...

I don't normally panic about these things either...but with our kiddos the flu would be a really bad thing! I just cancelled Kendall's eye surgery on Wednesday because I don't think sitting in waiting rooms for pre-op appts, etc. is a good idea in Ft. Worth right now! I'm also going to keep my son home from school tomorrow (assuming they have it) since Kendall's vision teacher told us there are a bunch of reported cases in Mansfield as well. Definitely better safe than sorry!!! Ugh. With our luck these days, we WOULD be one of the families to get it!!!
We need to schedule a time to hang out soon. It may be impossible to get everyone on the same schedule...but we'll figure something out next week for sure!

Anonymous said...

Seems like your concerns are well-placed. Every flu is worth avoiding for anyone who has special needs.
Barbara

 
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