Whew! Well, that was quite an unpleasant two weeks. Turns out the whole famdamily came down with the swine flu, so what initially seemed like a cold knocked us all down for the count. I felt like I was coming down with something for about a week before I started showing major symptoms. It was mostly sneezing, like I was having some sort of allergy attack. My daughter was the first to go down. She was really lethargic the day after Halloween and by night had a temperature of 103. She continued having fevers for five days as well as headache, stomach ache and coughing. Two days later was when I started in with the chest/lung pain, sinus stuff and high fever which lasted four days. My son followed directly on my heels with the fever and other symptoms.
I'd have to say that the worst thing had to have been the lung tightness which lasted for about a week before I started a productive cough (aren't you glad you're getting all these details?). Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm still coughing a bit two weeks later, my daughter ended up with a secondary middle ear infection and is still fighting some minor symptoms and my son is mostly recovered except for some fatigue.
My husband had a number of the same symptoms, but he never had a fever. He did start Tamiflu last week because that's the protocol for the transplant clinic. Even though he has a reduced immune response, he has fared better than the rest of us, albeit the side effects of the Tamiflu haven't been exactly pleasant.
It's been interesting seeing how each of us has responded differently to the virus. My daughter, by far, had it the worst, but she's also the youngest. I would say I was hit second hardest because of the lung issues I was experiencing (and I'm still hoping I don't come down with bronchitis or pneumonia) and my son had it the "mildest" if you consider a week and a half of fever, fatigue, coughing and other fun and merriment as "mild". I'm hoping my husband doesn't get any worse, he's the one I've been most concerned about, but so far so good.
The only benefit is now I don't have to scramble to find the H1N1 vaccination for anyone since we've all been inoculated the old fashioned way. However, I must urge you guys, that if you can avoid getting this with the vaccine, please do. It ain't mild, no matter what they claim.
Anyway, I'll be back to posting here as long as I can stay awake for it!
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28 Crunchy Thoughts:
Oh Lordy, that's what I was afraid of because of your husband. Glad to hear that he weathered that storm!
Glad to hear you are all doing better and that you'll now be able to ward it off permanently.
Take care!
I'm glad everyone is on the mend!
I was beginning to worry about you and yours. I am pleased to read that your husband weathered the storm.
I'm glad to hear that you are all feeling better, even if not back to normal. Hope it will be soon!
Best wishes.
Wow, what a story. Glad to hear that everone is better!
Not to rain on your bright side, but did you get a definite confirmation that it was H1N1? My sister and her daughters all had the flu very badly - and she was sure it was H1N1. Turns out it was the regular flu, and she still has another treat available to her ;-).
We can't get any vaccine anyway at the moment, so the whole thing is moot. I'm expecting the death-flu any day now, but so far, so good.
I'm really glad you are doing better, and that Mr. Crunchy seems to have made it through ok.
Sharon
I'm the only one who has had h1n1 at our house - we are still waiting on getting our shots because the kids while they qualify and hubby as a diabetic qualifies the local health dept said they ran out on the day we went to get the shots - now we wait until december....I'm the only one who doesn't qualify and I got sick - confirmed because I am the caregiver of at risk family members. Crunchy is right - it sucks really really bad....the worst is the annoying non-productive lingering cough. I am still gonna get the shot just as soon as its available to me - I'm not going through that again - again - it sucks more than you can imagine!
Yuck. DO take extra care of yourself right now- Spice had it here like 2 months ago (you slacker) and it DID morph into pneumonia. Both H1N1 and pneumonia formally confirmed.
Really glad you're all on the mend, anyway.
They're not bothering confirming cases in Seattle unless you're hospitalized. H1N1 is THE only flu (apparently) going around here.
Glad you're on the mend, Crunchy. I managed an H1N1 shot for my diabetic son, but none of the rest of us has been able to get it yet. And until those that really need it have it, I won't be standing in line.
We're all so glad to have you back and on the mend.
Thanks everyone.
Sharon - It is statistically possible that we had something else since we weren't formally tested. But, according to Public Health, 70% of flus in WA State right now are swine flu and the symptoms more matched those of the swine rather than regular flu with the heavy lung/chest action (and no gastro symptoms for most of us), we are banking on that.
I'm not sure what the rates are in Seattle/King County, but I don't think the regular flu season has hit us just yet. Anyway, our doctor told us not to bother with vax since "we already had it".
And they currently have NO seasonal flu vaccines and won't be getting any until early December. The whole vaccinations distribution this year has been beyond fucked.
Glad to hear you all are on the mend!
Sounds AWFUL, but I'm glad to hear everyone seems to be on the mend.
We live in Seattle and were all able to get the seasonal vaccine last week at the Virginia Mason Sandpoint walk in clinic. They should be running it through early December. We arrived about 10 minutes before they opened (9:30) and were the first ones there with no wait. You don't have to be a patient. My 5 year old got the Flumist and they gave me (nursing mom) a thimerosal-free shot.
Thank God. I am so glad all is well up there. What would I do if I didn't have your blog to leave my snide remarks on???
Phew! We have been worried about you! Glad to hear that you are all on the better side of this...
I'm glad you are all feeling better!! Flu is miserable. My son is home from school now with a slight fever and feeling miserable. Keep your fingers crossed that it isn't the flu. Though I know he is feeling bad when he didn't put up a fuss about missing school tomorrow.
oh yes, a friend just had this and they were calling it the whine flu. Hey at least they kept their sense of humor 8-)
So glad to hear you and yours are mending! Hope you are all back in fine fettle soon!
Daughter caught it during the first week of college. It went through her dorm pretty bad. She described her lung problems very similar to your symptoms.
So sorry to hear you have had a rough time. Take it easy, take deep breaths to get air into your lungs, make sure you drink plenty of water also. My daughter has been dealing with after effects from the flu she got in Sept. because she pushed herself too hard. She ended up with broken ribs from coughing, walking pneumonia, pleurisy, and an inflamation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone. All very painfull! She is the type that just pushes through the pain and does what needs to be done and more and has really suffered this time because of it. Is just now starting to come out of the pain from the last broken rib (lifting 2 toddlers is not a good thing). So-please do less than you think you should and rest as much as you can.
Good to hear that everyone is on the mend.
I got my vaccine and was afraid I'd be the only one left at work as everyone else came down with it. Two weeks ago, 4 of the 12 science teachers were out sick. The school in the next town over closed due to having 40% of kids out sick with ILI's (influenza-like illnesses).
A friend of mine thought she had it and was happy to get through it and gain immunity, only to have her H1N1 test come back negative. So don't get your hopes up! You could get sick again...
Glad you guys are on the mend now. My family responded all differently to it also. (We had it in Aug.) and my 12yo dd had it the worst.
We had it also and it hit all 5 of us differently. I had a wicked headache & fever. My oldest daughter was down for 9 days with a fever that would not break...yes, NINE days. My son and other daughter were mildly sick for about 3 days and then were much better. Some of us are still coughing and it was well over a month ago!
Glad to hear you are on the mend. I too was down for about 2.5 weeks when it hit. My husband had it for 1 and the kiddo was 3 days. Lucky kid.
I can't decide whether to get the vaccine or not. I think I might have had swine flu either this summer or this fall. (Symptoms sure matched up! But it wasn't confirmed because I didn't go to the doctor's office for either bout with the flu.) My husband had to get the swine flu vaccine because he's a physician. I'm tempted to weather the lines at the health department and get myself a vaccine.
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