Tuesday, October 13, 2009

H1N1 Lives Here (For Sure)-And We Will Shortly Be Washed Downstream

Was it not just a month ago that I was lamenting about how hot and miserable I was and how I could not wait for winter? This is Gemma's field where she lives all summer. All the horses are tucked into the barn so they don't get washed downstream.


Hallelujah! The remnants from a typhoon in the Pacific is thrashing us vigorously! I have to cross this below to reach the barn. I'd better be getting out my hip waders and a drag line.


And the lonely tricycle is drounding in misery. I can hear it calling, "Won't somebody rescue me?"


And you all know about swine flu? Right? Or do you?


Ella has the flu. Or rather WE have the flu. The compound has been infected through Kindergarten. The joys of Kinder...

Last week, Suzi told me one of the kid in the cousin's class was kept home since she had swine flu.

My first comment to Suzi was, "Well, if Adam has a fever in the next five days we've got it too."

Yesterday Ella and cousin Adam came down with fevers and sniffles and basic aches. Ella was sporting a fever around 102 last night and could not sleep between 1 and 4. She had a fever all day today.

I took Ella in to the Dr today to see if they wanted to give her any Tamiflu since I was sure she had "The Flu" of one kind or another.

Here is how they test for the flu in the Dr's office:

The Dr takes a nasal swab. Dr puts the sample on reader like you would use for a pregnancy test. There are two lines that indicate an infection which will show up on the in-office test. One line indicates Influenza Type A and another denotes Influenza Type B. There is also a control line.

Depending on the amount of virus in a persons system the positive stripe will light up quickly or more slowly or not. Ella's test reflected a strong quick positive response for Influenza Type A.

Dr told us that the H1N1 also causes the test to show a positive result for Influenza Type A, so without further testing in a lab it can not be differentiated whether an infected person has H1N1 or Influenza Type A in the Dr's office.

So, basically if the kid sent home from cousin Adam's Kinder really had H1N1 then we have it too.

Ella took her Tamiflu and is in bed sleeping now. I think I will too soon be sleeping after my three hour stint with her last night in the wee hours.

(Oops. I spoke too soon. Check off vomiting in the list of symptoms that Ella now is exhibiting. That was fun cleaning up...)

Public Service Announcement: If you suspect you have the flu, the Tamiflu does not work after 48 hours from the onset of flu symptoms. The Tamiflu must be taken in the first 24 t0 48 hours to have an effect.

With a storm pounding and virus's raging, winter is already claiming us as it's own. See isn't a change of season just wonderful!

Post Script 10/15: We are working on four days of a fluctuating fever between 101 and 103 AND an ear infection. Ella is really getting hit hard. I have no doubt about which flu this is. Swine flu is on the loose in our area for sure!

22 comments:

The Mind of a Mom said...

Ohhh I hope she gets better soon! It is so scary to not know if it is or is not H1N1 and then it is scary when you do find out it is. I am going to make sure The girl and I get the H1N1 shots. They are saying it hits women/girls harder then guys and can be more dangerous for females. good to know you caught it fast enough to start the meds!
I hope you get some rest take care of yourself!

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

Oh no. Stomach upset is NOT a sign of the regular flu. It is strictly a sign, in about 1/3-1/2 the cases, of the H1N1 flu.

You poor thing and poor Ella. This is just awful, plus the rain is scary and honestly, please put a rope across that stream. Even a few inches of rain could knock you off your feet and hurt you. Because I know you will be running to check those big ol' horsies of yours constantly. As if checking on Ella constantly isn't enough to wear you out.

For fever they say that drinking a LOT of juice will bring it down in a child, but with the vomiting...do you have real candied ginger she could suck on? Very good for nausea.

Melodie said...

I hope she gets better soon and I hope everyone there doesn't get it!
The Boy has already had some kind of flu this year,sigh...I guess unless we want to live like hermits in a unibomber shack we have to take our chances with these cootie ridden people and hope for the best!
Congrads on the rain!I know you all needed it.I hope it cooled off too!

Rural Rambler said...

Julia those pictures! The water! Our yard looks like we have a new pond this morning and we have quite a bit of water over our gravel drive but we don't look nothing like that! Hope your little girl gets to feeling better pronto. I have heard from a reliable source that Tamiflu can cause the upchucks.

Raven said...

I hope that you all feel better very soon.

Suzi said...

As much as I enjoy the kids being in school, I DON'T enjoy all the little bugs they bring home. Luke was complaining of a headache last night, we will see how he is this morning. Hope Ella is feeling better.

LifeRamblings said...

wishing you all the best speedy recovery. get well soon!

Lesley Speller said...

Awww Poor Ella! I hope she's well soon. We spent all weekend throwing up and I thought we were all finally well...but Finn woke up with fever. This is the suck!

Grand Pooba said...

Geez! That really sucks! I hope you, Ella, and whoever gets the flu get better quick! Stupid kinder!

San-Dee said...

I am sending {{healing}} vibes to Ella and {{soothing}} vibes to you as you try to take care of that cutie. I hope everyone else stays healthy, but it's doubtful, so remember a good stiff shot of anything with a high alcohol content can at least help the time pass.... take care of yourselves and don't worry about responding to any of us....

Liz Mays said...

I hope she fights it off quickly and that the rest of you don't get it.

What happens if you just take nothing? If I came down with the flu, I doubt I'd go to the doctor. I don't get more than 2 visits free per year.

The Silver Age Sara said...

Oh, you are all having some tough times there. The pictures of all the rain and your swamped fields were so sad and poor Ella!
My son (an adult) just got over the swine flu and he was really ill for an entire week.
Anyway, I'm sending you lots of positive energy and good wishes.
Take care of yourselves.

Karen said...

Oh my. I hope you are feeling better soon.

Sharkbytes said...

Bummer- sick kids are no fun at all. hang in there.

Vixen said...

Which totally explains why you didn't answer my email. Are they going to send out the test to verify swine flu? You really need to know since you have your kids and Suzy's kids in such close contact. Don't want to keep passing it around, its a serious disease. We had a five year old with no underlying medical problems die from H1N1 on Tuesday.

Take very good care of all of you. Let me know how it's going.

Much love and hope for "regular" flu, not swine flu.

Rick (Ratty) said...

I hope everything gets better soon. Your luck doesn't seem to be going your way at all lately. Hopefully that means it'll turn around any day now.

Sharkbytes said...

When you are feeling better, I've given you an award over at myqualityday.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Oh no. Poor Ella. :( :( :(

Five O'Clock Somewhere said...

Wow you sure did get alot of rain. It poured here for a day or so, but everything seems to have dried out now. Hope everyone gets better soon. Swine flu sounds like it stinks, not that any other flu is fun.

Sara said...

UGH! I hope she is feeling better by now. Poor baby! And you and the rest of the compound are hopefully on the mend too. That will be us sometime this winter. It's gonna happen.

Spice is the black bunny and she is the one I force-fed for 4 weeks. She got down to 5lbs and now is back to around 6-7 lbs. She has a lot of fur. LOL

Elizabeth Leigh said...

Poor thing!!! I have been back and forth about this swine flu vaccine since the kid is in daycare... but have opted to not get it b/c its so new. Hope i'm not later regretting it!! YIKES. Send Ella a big get well hug from ME:)

DayPhoto said...

Oh, man! That is terrible! Hope Ella gets well soon and no one else comes down!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

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