Flu 2020

The coronavirus is in the world news, but the flu is around the homestead.

The school sent out multiple alerts and Shane's classroom has had upwards of a third of the kids out each week.

It was his turn this week.

Shane had a small cough Wednesday morning. He seemed fine, got on the bus, and went to school.

Carrie got a call from the nurse around noon. There was no fever, but Shane had visited her twice and felt ill. We scheduled a doctor's appointment (4 PM) just in case it was the flu and to try out a practice closer to home. Then it was decided Carrie would pick Shane up at the final bell instead of sending him to after school. 

Carrie said Shane was in the nurse's office in tears when she arrived. She asked me to come home a little early to help with the appointment. 

I found Shane curled up on the couch when I got home around 3:45 PM.

We went to the practice just inside of town. From what I've read, it's been around since the late 80s or early 90s with the same doctor in charge (Aka - A long time!).

Shane kept wanting to lay down on the floor, but we made him sit in a chair. He semi-laid as best he could.

I would have hoped some of this didn't need to be spelled out.

We had to wait for a little bit, but it wasn't too bad (We arrived 10  minutes early for paperwork and waited around 15-20 total).

Doctor J took us back for the examination. Shane complained his side and his legs ached, so Dr J felt around. Then he had Shane jump up and down and ruled out appendicitis. The first signs of a fever were now appearing (100.4 F) and the doctor forewent a flu test called it like he saw it.

Two notes: 

1) The decor was very old and the poster (partly seen above) of Cold War era fighter planes amused me.

2) The doctor didn't use gloves. He was 'old fashioned' and just spritzed some sanitizer on afterwards.

There was a small, local pharmacy next door, but they were out of Tamiflu. We got Shane some motrin and I drove us up to Wegman's instead. Shane slept.

The pharmacist at Wegman's was concerned that the doctor wrote the prescription for a half-dose of Tamiflu. She called and talked to him, but he said he'd had good results with the half-dose and didn't see a need for anything else. It had Carrie a little worried, but I figured we'd take it as information and see what the results were (Tamiflu has a mixed reputation and there is such a thing as over-medicating). She choose tutti-fruitti for the flavoring.

Shane threw up the first dose of medicine in a neat pile on the counter. It wasn't tutti-fruitti enough to keep down.

The first night was rough. Carrie had crashed on the couch. Shane woke her up in the middle of the night with a 105.1 F fever. She gave him some medicine and then woke me to let me know. "Now, I've got to go back out there and pretend not to be worried!" They made it through the night, but she didn't get much sleep. 

Carrie took charge of the home front, so that I could keep teaching. She and Loki kept an eye on Shane as he watched Pokemon.

Thursday, I got a few texts during the day with pictures and updates. The highest his fever hit was 104 F.

I was smarter about things Thursday night. Instead of letting Shane's medicine run out in the middle of the night, I set an alarm for the middle of the night. I got up and gave him another dose to help manage the fever and let him sleep sounder (He wasn't happy about being woken!). That kept Carrie asleep, too.

Friday was more of the same. The fever stayed lower and I don't think it crept out of the 101 F range.

Shane was still sleeping when I got home right after work on Friday.

Carrie was a silent sentinel keeping an eye on her boy.

Carrie didn't do much with the horses either day. She said that when she ran out to feed them quickly on Thursday, Shane started to cry and look for her.

That left a lot of poop for me. I came home shortly after work each day to do the extra barn chores while there was still daylight.

It put me a little behind on the school work, but everything at the barn goes faster when you can see what you're doing.

I was groggy enough I misplaced a pair of scissors for a couple of days. I couldn't figure out where they were for the life of me! I searched around the boys hay feeder by flashlight while they ate and checked their hay bags the next morning. Carrie found them safely out of the way on a stall wall that I swore I checked.

Shane stayed sick through the weekend, but the fever was gone by midday Saturday. We still gave him a dose of Motrin Saturday night just in case, but he went all Sunday without. Shane kept complaining his feet hurt and walked like someone taped tacks to the bottom of them. Honestly, he seemed to be trying to milk things, but we weren't buying it. His energy level was still low, so we kept him home Monday before sending him back to school.

Funny side story:

By buying our first prescription at Wegmans, Carrie got a $10 credit for groceries. "It was meant to be," she declared and bought a cherry pie!

"Cherry?" I asked. "Did it have to be cherry?" I'm not a fan of tart. "Why not something good like apple?"

I got hushed and a little later Shane woke up. Carrie told him about the pie.

"I like cherry," Shane started. Carrie beamed...., but then she almost shushed him when he continued. "...but if cherry is level 1 good, apple is level 3 good."

Like father, like son! I laughed!

I can't remember Shane's exact words, but I remember it started to sound in cherry/Carrie's favor until Shane let it be known apple was much better!