h1n1

[dana1003]

glad to see my post get so many responses. i appreciate and listen to everyones words here. my worse fear is losing a child. i dwell on this daily. with all this flu talk it scares the hell out of me. i cannot relax about it. they get a fever and my stomach does flops. they received their first dose and if there are still some available in 2 weeks we will go back. what if they dont have the second? do they still have immunity? can they still get h1n1 with the shot? this is what runs thru my mind daily..

 

[Green Tea]

Unless you isolate everyone in your household and never leave the house, you cannot avoid possibly coming into contact w/ this virus. .

And even a complete isolation doesn't remove all risk. The mailman might cough in his hand just as he opens your mailbox. The garbage man might have the virus as he picks up your can to empty into the truck.

If they have had the injections, I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[hinodis]

glad to see my post get so many responses. i appreciate and listen to everyones words here. my worse fear is losing a child. i dwell on this daily. with all this flu talk it scares the hell out of me. i cannot relax about it. they get a fever and my stomach does flops. they received their first dose and if there are still some available in 2 weeks we will go back. what if they dont have the second? do they still have immunity? can they still get h1n1 with the shot? this is what runs thru my mind daily..

To those who are saying its just the flu...NO it is NOT! I have it right now and it is the worst illness I have EVER had!!!I am on day four and still running a fever. It is wicked, wicked, wicked, I asked DH last night to pull the plug. I don't want to suffer anymore. DH and I have a very close friend that is an ER (chief of staff) Doc. He calls me daily to check up on me. He told me this past week he has seen the numbers go down in the ER for flu cases. He did tell me that those with athsma are at risk the most for a secondary infection. I would worry too OP. My DD12 is just getting over it, she fared better then I am. My doc friend said do NOT send her to school until the fever AND the cough are gone. He kept his son out for 10 days. You can be contagious up to 7 - 10 days after the fever is gone, that is why are seeing so many people getting sick. I don't want to scare the op I am just relaying what the doc said. I do not think you are over reacting I would be worried too.

 

[Feralpeg]

To those who are saying its just the flu...NO it is NOT! I have it right now and it is the worst illness I have EVER had!!!I am on day four and still running a fever. It is wicked, wicked, wicked, I asked DH last night to pull the plug. I don't want to suffer anymore. DH and I have a very close friend that is an ER (chief of staff) Doc. He calls me daily to check up on me. He told me this past week he has seen the numbers go down in the ER for flu cases. He did tell me that those with athsma are at risk the most for a secondary infection. I would worry too OP. My DD12 is just getting over it, she fared better then I am. My doc friend said do NOT send her to school until the fever AND the cough are gone. He kept his son out for 10 days. You can be contagious up to 7 - 10 days after the fever is gone, that is why are seeing so many people getting sick. I don't want to scare the op I am just relaying what the doc said. I do not think you are over reacting I would be worried too.

I agree that it is a wicked flu. I've not had it yet. I hope I don't get it. I am concerned that my daughter could get it. She has a rather fragile immune system at best. That being said, life must go on. I am worried, but all we can do is take precautions and hope for the best.

I don't think that this flu has run its course. I think we are still in for several rough months. What scares me the most is the deaths that have occurred in healthy individuals with no underlying health concerns. I lost a good friend recently to complications from H1N1. He was a healthy man until the flu hit him. He went downhill so fast. Very scary.

This is a strange flu in that some people barely feel the effects and others are hit really, really hard. No one seems to know why or who will feel the worst of the effects.

OP, do what makes you feel the most comfortable.

 

[LisaR]

glad to see my post get so many responses. i appreciate and listen to everyones words here. my worse fear is losing a child. i dwell on this daily. with all this flu talk it scares the hell out of me. i cannot relax about it. they get a fever and my stomach does flops. they received their first dose and if there are still some available in 2 weeks we will go back. what if they dont have the second? do they still have immunity? can they still get h1n1 with the shot? this is what runs thru my mind daily..

This isn't healthy. If you are truly stressing this much, you are taxing your own immune system. I am not saying that there isn't anything to worry about but your comments seem a bit extreme. If you are really dwelling on it daily, that isn't healthy for anyone. Your children will sense your anxiety no matter how much you think you are hiding it.

Stop watching the news and reading about H1N1. Get the vaccine and teach your kids about good hygiene. Homeschooling them isn't the solution unless you plan on never leaving the house. My kids are homeschooled and my oldest more than likely had this back in April. There isn't much else you can do. Remember, most people recover from this just fine. It is scary but if it is consuming your life, you may need to look at some other options.

 

[kilee]

To those who are saying its just the flu...NO it is NOT!

Truly if you get the seasonal flu, you would be thinking the same thing. Too many times the term "flu" gets named to other illnesses.

 

[clovergirl5]

To op, I share your fears too. 4 of my children are in school. 3 of them in an elementary school, who had 40% of kids gone this past week with H1N1. I chose to keep my healthy kids home to avoid it. They were home for 4 days last week and 2 the week before. Up till a few days ago, the vaccine was no where around here. My ped finally got 150( thats it) doses last week. My family took 5 of them. 4 of the kids still need to go back for a second shot. Pretty much all the kids around here still haven't gotten their first shot, its just not available.
Our superintendent won't cancel school , so I kept them home. I have a 2 year old dd at home, who was also in the hospital for a week as a 2-month old, with RSV and pnemonia (my ds8 was also in as an infant with the same thing ). I know what its like to have very sick kids and I don't want to go there again if I can help it. Keeping them home was best for our family. The super understood fully and said not to worry, because I was concerned of attendance laws.
Its definetly not going away anytime soon here.
STAY HEALTY!

 

[N&B'smom]

My brother and his wife homeschool their kids, they ALL got H1N1.

 

[minkydog]

To those who are saying its just the flu...NO it is NOT! I have it right now and it is the worst illness I have EVER had!!!I am on day four and still running a fever. It is wicked, wicked, wicked, I asked DH last night to pull the plug. I don't want to suffer anymore. DH and I have a very close friend that is an ER (chief of staff) Doc. He calls me daily to check up on me. He told me this past week he has seen the numbers go down in the ER for flu cases. He did tell me that those with athsma are at risk the most for a secondary infection. I would worry too OP. My DD12 is just getting over it, she fared better then I am. My doc friend said do NOT send her to school until the fever AND the cough are gone. He kept his son out for 10 days. You can be contagious up to 7 - 10 days after the fever is gone, that is why are seeing so many people getting sick. I don't want to scare the op I am just relaying what the doc said. I do not think you are over reacting I would be worried too.

Truly if you get the seasonal flu, you would be thinking the same thing. Too many times the term "flu" gets named to other illnesses.

I agree. When you get the real influenza it comes on fast and hard. Just like H1N1. The headache and body aches are just terrible. Just like H1N1. Lots of people suffer secondary infections, pneumonia, and other serious respiratory ailments. Just like H1N1. People who have chronic illness are especially at risk. Just like H1N1. No difference. Both types of flu will make you want to die.

About 8 years ago I got the flu twice in a season, type A and type B. I was extremely sick and I got pneumonia both times. It took me 4 months to fully recover.I cannot imagine that the H1N1 would be any worse(assuming no fatal complications) than those two bouts of seasonal influenza. It was the only year that I skipped my flu vaccine and believe me, I have never skipped it again.

So when I say "it's just the flu" I really am not trying to minimize anyone's experience with H1N1. Just trying to point out that flu is flu and when you get it, it feels BAAAAAAAD. However, most people do NOT die from the flu. Some do and that's terrible for them and their families. It's never a good thing when 120+ kids are dead from swine flu. But that's 120+ kids out of how many millions in the U.S.? You have more likely chances of having your kid get leukemia or get hit by a car or drown in a pool. It's not something we should dwell over because we can't control it. You wash your hands, teach your children to wash their hands, get your vaccines and life goes on.

 

[dana1003]

This isn't healthy. If you are truly stressing this much, you are taxing your own immune system. I am not saying that there isn't anything to worry about but your comments seem a bit extreme. If you are really dwelling on it daily, that isn't healthy for anyone. Your children will sense your anxiety no matter how much you think you are hiding it.

Stop watching the news and reading about H1N1. Get the vaccine and teach your kids about good hygiene. Homeschooling them isn't the solution unless you plan on never leaving the house. My kids are homeschooled and my oldest more than likely had this back in April. There isn't much else you can do. Remember, most people recover from this just fine. It is scary but if it is consuming your life, you may need to look at some other options.

your right..i do obsess about it. i cant help it. my worst fear is losing my kids. we all got our h1n1 and im trying to not let it consume my thoughts. my one was sick with 104 fever and my stomach went in knots i started shaking..turns out she had strep. i take it one day ata time but i do think i need therapy

 

[wvjules]

glad to see my post get so many responses. i appreciate and listen to everyones words here. my worse fear is losing a child. i dwell on this daily. with all this flu talk it scares the hell out of me. i cannot relax about it. they get a fever and my stomach does flops. they received their first dose and if there are still some available in 2 weeks we will go back. what if they dont have the second? do they still have immunity? can they still get h1n1 with the shot? this is what runs thru my mind daily..

Dwelling daily on losing a child can't be healthy for anyone. Maybe you need to talk to someone.

 

[luvmy3]

OP, I don't think you are crazy but overreacting just a bit....if you have gotten them the vaccine, then they should be fine. Just as the PP said you can catch this ANYWHERE "they say" I mean now you even have to watch your pets...(that is a bit much if you ask me)

I still feel its being overblown. Its a strain of flu thats all.

From what I understand is that the H1N1 strain is not behaving like a typical seasonal strain of the virus, which is why it seems so overblown in the media.

One of our kids had a checkup this week and the doctor told us not to even bother with getting the vaccine for any of our kids at this point. He said it's basically over.

we are just the opposite, I just got an email from our ped and it stated that the number of cases here have increased dramatically over the last week. I guess for us its not the end, but the beginning.


OP, I think its perfectly fine to be concerned about your kids catching this flu, no matter what anyone on the DIS tells you. However, if you are really dwelling and worrying that much about losing one of your children because of it, you need to speak with someone about it, that is not a normal healthy reaction

 

[Bluestars]

OP, hopefully nobody in your family will get this. Some of my family members had it and they were sick for about a week and then everything was back to normal for them. One of them was a 1 1/2 girl. She ran a 103 for several days and had a horrible cough, but recovered completely. They used several home remedies to keep everything clear and possibly speed up their recovery. They did not use Tamiflu.

However, from everything I have heard about Tamiflu, if given soon after you get H1N1, it is very successful in treating it. So, I have already decided that if my kids get sick, we're requesting Tamiflu. I'm not taking any chances. We all just got the vaccine though, so hopefully in another week we won't have to worry about it.

 

[kilee]

We just had a meeting today at work about H1N1, a month ago we couldn't get a shot to save ourselves. Now we have more supply than we know what to do w/ (well not really but you know what I mean).

Anyhow, our area seems to be in a "lull" again. This happened in June too. The first 3 weeks of June we were slammed w/ suspected H1N1 (via in-office rapid flu tests) cases. Then out of nowhere it dropped off. Then the last 2 weeks of Oct and the 1st week of November we were slammed again. Now, last week we had only a random handful of cases.