H1N1?

Ugh, what a week.

Sunday D started coughing again. She's seriously been sick every other week since she started daycare. And because i have a weak immune system, i've gotten everything she's gotten. So, i got the seasonal flu shot like a month ago, and was holding out on the H1N1 vaccine until the injection came out. (The nasal thing is live and the shot is killed, and i'd rather have the killed all things considered, young baby, weak immune system, etc).

Monday i started not feeling great. Nasal congestion and such. i got home and felt worn down. i stayed up until Alan got home and when i stood up, i felt like i was dying. i took my temp before bed and it was 99.7 i think (can't remember for sure, but above 99 but below 1oo). i wasn't tooo worried.

All night i felt awful. Tossed and turned, moaned and groaned. Poor D coughed and coughed on the monitor all night, too. When i got up Tuesday morning, i took my temp and it was 100.4. D didn't have a fever, 98-something normal. i called in to work and went to the Walgreen's clinic (different one from the story a month or so ago, but not a much better story).

The NP didn't want to give me the flu test. She said she knew i had the flu from my symptoms and fever (which had gotten as high as 101.2 pre-Tylenol), and given my weak immune system she was going to give me Tamiflu regardless. She said the test has a 30% false negative rate. i wanted to KNOW, because it might affect how i deal with D (if we should try to get her preventative Tamiflu or something...), with daycare, whether Alan would need to take time off from work, etc. i didn't see the harm in taking the test. She argued with me, was rather harsh IMO (i.e. treated me like i was an idiot), eventually made me almost cry, then raising her voice and saying over and over again "You do not need to cry!" Let's just say i'm never going back to a Take Care clinic and will likely transfer my Rx's from Walgreens period. Ugh!

Anyway, she finally did the test. She also did the strep test. And she made a big damn deal about how she was going to do EVERYTHING for me. Both Influenza A/B tests and the Strep A test were negative. But, she gave me Tamiflu anyway, telling me she was sure i had the flu. And since i had the seasonal vax, i can only assume it's H1N1, so we have been treating it as such. We called the pediatrician, who never called us back. i've been avoiding her and everything she touches for 48 hours.

i haven't held my baby in 2 days. i have only seen her across the room. It just hurts so much! i've been so careful. And now...

A few hours ago her temp went up to 99.4. Then 100.4. We called the on-call doctor, who said to give Tylenol (we already had) and make an appointment for the morning. She said not to go to the ER unless the temp went up to 102 with Tylenol or her breathing became labored.

And i STILL can't hold my baby because i'm not 100% sure it's the same thing. It's weird that she's had the symptoms so long and only now getting a fever, and the symptoms worsening. i guess she could have a cold and now the flu. But i don't want to take chances. Poor Pre-Toddler D! Poor Alan trying to care for us both, too.