child sick...leave in 3 days...now what??!!

[laujac]

Being a Mom who has been on the Disney Cruise with two very sick children (both came down with it on the boat... my son did not leave the room for the three days... my daughter had to be given fluids by IV on the last day of the cruise) it was not fun for any of us. My husband had to eat his dinners in the room as one of us had to stay behind... we could not get off at the ports... we basically took turns sitting in the cabin watching the Disney cartoons.

With that being said... if I was in a position that my child was ill... I would not take the chance that he would not get better during the trip. You risk your enjoyment as well as your investment. Also, who likes to travel when you are not feeling well? May not be fair to him.

 

[LiserAnn]

To answer your question, having just gone on a west coast cruise (July 30th), I remember well the questionnaire they asked at the port....it was :has your or your child had a fever, diarrhea OR vomitting in the last 72 hours?"

What a drag, I hope he gets better quickly!!!! I'm sure he'll be fine...bad timing is all. Fortunately, the first few days are sea days so you all can continue to take it easy on the ship. The three port days in a row do make it an exhausting time so you may want to plan to take it easy then as well or plan for some down time so he doesn't have a relapse.

I heard there were lots of kids that got sick from our cruise AFTER they got home, with either colds (my boys), fever or vomitting (other DISers kids). To my chagrin, one of the families (no, not a DISer) we travelled with actually put their 5 year old in the kids club on the last night knowing he had a fever...she said he was tired, meaning that was the cause of the fever....I'm still shocked. She told me after the fact otherwise I would have gone to the kids club and advised them they had a sick child. Still is hard for me to believe someone would do that knowing the child was sick...and this is someone I thought I knew well!!!!

Good luck and here's some pixie dust your way that you all stay happy and healthy!!!

 

[colonels cruisers]

When we cruise 7/04 we were part of a large extended family. At dinner the first night one of the moms states the reason they were late to board was bc they had to stop at walgreens for more meds for their children. As DS had now been around these children for 6-8 hrs I thought oh great. Sure enough he came down with a fever. I kept him in the room until 24 hr after the fever went down.

True he and I didn't get too see much and DH did the shore exc, ate etc by himself but hey I didn't have to cook or clean so...

To this day I am still angered that someone could be so thoughtless. DS was 3 sick, away from his comforts on this really cool ship and go to enjoy very little. If they would have just stayed in their room (let alone be honest with DCL) none of this would have happened. As they lived in the clubs except for meals my DS couldn't have been the only child.

Sounds like your little one is on the mend which is great. I understand that changing the plans can be costly financially and emotionally. I just ask that everyone in this situation think about the other children. How would you and your kids feel if the shoe was on the other foot?

 

[Tiger926]

I am sending you lots of pixie dust as you have a very difficult situation at hand. Our DD (20 months at time) had to be hospitalized in March for 2 days with strep throat, rotavirus, severe dehydration, gastoenteriti & acidosis. We are very vigilant parents, but not everyone else is, and consequently, after lots of testing, it was determined that she caught everything at WDW - she had also had a physical with tests days before we went just to be sure. Very scary to be so far away from home with a very ill child.

Just a word of warning about being 'cleared' by doctors. Doctors are not infallible, in fact, most doctor's today it seems make lots of mistakes. Our daughter was seen by a clinic dr. several days before she was hospitalized (Centra Care - WDW set it up & the shuttle came to pick us up) who missed many things - he did take the swab though which is the only way to diagnose strep. Anyway, the hospital was not impressed with our clinic visit, especially since this dr. told us to go and enjoy ourselves at the parks, because our DD would be fine. We knew otherwise & stayed in so as not to rush her healing, but most of all, in order to not make anyone else ill. Unfortunately, not all parents were like us, and this is how my DD became ill in the first place as strep & rotavirus are highly contagious.

Despite all of this, we just came back from 2 weeks, and had our best trip ever! We purchased medical grade antibacterial gel (Purell is a waste of time as most hospital professionals will tell you as it washes off - need to buy hospital stuff that lasts 4 hours & doesn't wash off), continually washed hands & severally limited her ability to touch anything - especially toys as these are the worst germ offenders.

I'm sorry to have rambled on, but I do understand your frustration & nervousness about your trip, hope all goes well at the dr.'s office - although I'm not sure of what the dr. is going to do since most tests take a few days to come back. You are more than likely going to be told he's ok, which we have been as well, and our DD has been hospitalized within days of (3 times) visiting dr.'s offices.

Good luck, Tiger

 

[lbgraves]

I hope your DS feels better today & is truely ok to travel. On our last cruise DD woke up on our last night with a high fever, I didn't have a thermometer to check it and from what I could find out the clinic wasn't open that night. The next morning she was very lethargic and stayed in the umbrella stroller while we ate breakfast. That virus lasted 3 days. We were just going home but our friends were going to WDW after the cruise & their DD woke up the next morning with the same symptoms. It is frustrating that parents send their kids off to the pool or the clubs right after giving them tylenol thinking that will keep their child feeling better. They are still contageous!

Thankfully DD didn't get sick until the last night of our cruise but if it had happened earlier I would have taken her to the clinic. If she needed to stay in the cabin I would rather have a notice from the doctor on the ship so that I could file with the travel insurance company for those days that we had to stay in the room. You also get special privledges which make it easier to take care of your child...wider choices for room service, movies in the room.

 

[Jsme]

I always take Lysol with me on a cruise and any other vacation. I spray everything in our room that we would touch for any reason. Basically the entire room. I may be nuts but since doing this we had not once came homw with a cold. I know this would not help if a child comes in contact with another sick child. I drill into both my kids heads to wash their hands frequently while on vacation. So far this has helped us.

I hope your child gets better and you are able to go on your cruise.

 

[one princess]

I just wanted to tell you that whatever your son has, has been going around here. My dd (who NEVER gets sick) had it. It was so weird. She only had a fever and nothing else. And this was the first fever she has ever had and she is almost 5! I talked to a couple of friends whose kids had it too and they told me it lasted three days and that was it. Sure enough, dd was fine in three days. Here's hoping for a quick recovery.

Jackie

 

[cass'mom]

It's going around here too! My dd (2) had a fever around 101.5 and the next afternoon, it was gone. No other symptoms at all. It was weird. Then 2 days later my other dd (5) got the fever and it turned to tonsilitis. She has a problem with tonsils though.

Hopefully, it's all gone by now and the doc had something good to say!

Pixie dust your way!

 

[Jsme]

Yeah it went thru my sons baseball team last week. We were lucky we did not get it here. But I told my son not to get near the guys that were sick. I watched him like a hawk to make sure he did not. I go back to work on Tuesday. I would hate to be out a few days after I hae been out the wqhole summer. I threated the coach who brought his sick sons to practice (he is theone who was to spread it via his boys) that if my kids get sick once I get back to work he was taking care of them! LOL

 

[dairyou]

Tiger 926,

Can you please tell me more about the soap you are referring to? Is there anyway I might be able to purchase it somewhere? We always Lysole everything in our room too but if there is a soap that would last longer that would be great.

We cant keep our kids locked away in the stateroom all day, but we can try and do something to prevent them from getting sick

Deb

 

[LAWalz23]

Hope your son is feeling better and that you get to go on your cruise. We know what it is like to have to cancel a trip because my nephew woke up with a 104 temp the morning we were supposed to go to WDW in 2001 (my 1st trip onsite and his & his twin sister's 1st trip ever). Thankfully the only thing we had to pay for was a change fee for the airline and a little extra for the room when we did get to go.

 

[rsjj]

got back from the doc this morning. she prescribed him anitbiotics. said he might be coming down w/a cold. although she's not sure exactly what it is. did mention to her that we are going out of the country for a cruise...and asked if we should cancel/postpone it...she doesn't see why. said he should be fine. gave us chewable antibiotics...since those don't need refridgeration! he also got aerobutral (sp?) for as needed basis. i repeated..."it's a cruise"...and she said "no problem". so we did get the ok to go.

now, i'm just trying to have him rest, and he has been drinking lots of water!

thank you to all, who's given your kind words, and sending pixie dust our way! i'm still a little worried. am trying not to panic here! and reading your responses have put me at east a bit! so thank you!!

 

[westjones]

got back from the doc this morning. she prescribed him anitbiotics. said he might be coming down w/a cold. although she's not sure exactly what it is. did mention to her that we are going out of the country for a cruise...and asked if we should cancel/postpone it...she doesn't see why. said he should be fine. gave us chewable antibiotics...since those don't need refridgeration! he also got aerobutral (sp?) for as needed basis. i repeated..."it's a cruise"...and she said "no problem". so we did get the ok to go.

now, i'm just trying to have him rest, and he has been drinking lots of water!

thank you to all, who's given your kind words, and sending pixie dust our way! i'm still a little worried. am trying not to panic here! and reading your responses have put me at east a bit! so thank you!!

How is your son feeling? Is he feeling any better? I hope things clear up and you have a wonderful trip.
DJ

 

[rsjj]

How is your son feeling? Is he feeling any better? I hope things clear up and you have a wonderful trip.
DJ

he's feeling fine! whenever he gets sick, you wouldn't know that he's sick, cuz he carries on, like normal, everyday, nothing! he's not even miserable or anything. he's been playing w/his little brother, eating, like normal. and that's how he's been today...except yesterday, he was a bit tired/lethargic/out of sorts. i, on the other hand, am somewhat stressed over this. hopefully, it'll pass. and from the looks of things, it seems like he will be fine. he's got one more day to rest. and we live only half an hour or so away from the port, so we can leave later on saturday, so he can get more rest?

but i do appreciate your (and everyone else's as well) concern regarding my child, and this issue we have at hand! thank you!!

just curious now..if anyone knows...what happens if after you answer the pre-boarding health questions, (and i am going to answer that honestly!), and the ship doc says he can't go on? would that be enough to file a claim from our trip insurance? i know some of you mentioned that you need a doc's note stating that you can't go, and that would be the "evidence" to take to your insurance for claim, right?? and having the ship doc say DS6 can't go, would be enough for the whole family not going, thus we can claim for everyone, right? (there's 4 of us) i can't imagine going, if he was denied boarding! does anyone know?

i'm trying to think positive, yet am trying to prepare myself, for the worst...although i'm almost 95% sure that he'll be fine, and we get to go. but...again, thank you!

 

[disneysooz]

To the OP, I apologize in advance if you said how old your son is, but is it possible that he is getting new teeth in? I know...it sounds silly or too simple, but a friend's daughter recently had her six year molars come in and she ran a temp of 102 for 2 days. No other symptoms at all; just fever and lethargy. Pediatrician said some kids do that with new teeth, even after infancy/toddler stages.

Also, antibiotics will not help a cold, as it is a virus. They only work on bacterial infections (ear infection, upper respiratory infections, etc)

Just a couple of things to consider/think about. Hope he feels better soon!

 

[atakaratemom]

It seems to me if your DS has been fever free for at least 24 hours when you board, has been treated and cleared by his pediatrician and has no other symptoms there should be no reason to keep you from boarding. Good luck and let us know what happens!

Mary

 

[CM_Mom]

He has a disease called "Perversity in Babies", "Perversity in children" etc. This disease was described to me in one of the baby books I was given 29 years ago when DS was born. I have found that it usually strikes without warning and then disappears equally fast.

The symptoms are unexplained fever, diarhea, vomiting (only once on the last two) just when it would be MOST inconvenient and make you feel expecially guilty and/or mess up plans. Examples would be before any major event such as leaving kid with babysitter for first night out with hubby after birth of baby....you get my drift.

According to the book, about 10% of fevers, etc in kids are of "undetermined origin" and perfectly healthy kids occassionally throw up and or have diarhea one time so he came up with the name as a diagnosis.

On a cheerful note...it usually goes away really fast.

 

[Dreamer04]

Albuterol is gonna make him reeeaallly hyper! Why did the MD prescribe that?

 

[susieh]

Flame me if you want but I would say nothing on the cruise forms. If your doctor has said you are free to travel then do you really want to risk losing the cost of the trip if a paranoid ship's doctor says you can't.

If he's ok then he's ok end of story.

And if it is his teeth (you said he was 6 so it could be his 2nd teeth) then no-way would insurance pay!

I am saying this as someone who has just had a major fight with my insurance company following a cancelled trip to Denver. They tried to get out of paying because FIL was 91 when we booked the trip and had diabetes and a pace maker. He died from pneumonia (nothing to do with the diabetes or pacemaker) - I ended up with having to get his GP to write a letter to say the earliest day he would have recommended cancelling the trip was the day he died). Insurance companies will get out of paying anyway they can - do you want to give them ammunition?

 

[mommasita]

I am very very happy to hear he is doing better, and you have the antibiotics.. He should be 100% by the time you do board..

Take care of you now, all the worrying and stressing makes us so frazzled..

Enjoy your trip..