The Flu.

Little Miss Avery ran a low-grade temp last Tuesday and was very irritable.  Just ask Grammie & Grandma Marian.  :-)  Wednesday she was perfectly fine; that is, until 2 a.m. when I awoke to her burning up next to me and she had a temp of 101.5.  Off to the Pediatrician's in the morning we went.  No strep, phew.  She was not swabbed for the flu, though.  I was told it was just a virus and I brought her home to spoil her, I mean take care of her.

Friday Shelby came home from school and said her throat hurt.  OK, I thought, she has strep.  I ran an errand and when I got home she had a temp of 102.  We took a deep breath and said, "better take her to immediate care."  We wanted to get her on antibiotics soon if it was strep.  Strep is really going around here in our area.

Nope, not strep.  Type B influenza.  Since her symptoms just started she was prescribed Tamiflu.  We got home and Riley had returned from a school dance...not feeling well. :-(  She had a temp, too.  ARGH!  

The night went OK between the trio of nose blowing, coughing, sneezing and snoring.  Saturday brought more fevers and 3 girls feeling yucky.  I did call the Pediatrician and was able to get a prescription for Tamiflu for her.  It was too late for Avery to start taking it.

Shelby did give me a bit of a scare Saturday as I noticed her left arm, chest and back had petichiae and she had 2 purpura under her right arm.  Her nose was also bleeding much more than usual.  Since she is on Plavix to help keep her shunt open this was all very concerning.  I called the on-call doctor in Chicago and was told if it got any worse she had to get labs done.  Thank goodness Sunday morning everything had faded.  Phew!

Scott woke up mid-Saturday afternoon (he had been sleeping for work that night) sneezing.  Like non-stop.  Poor guy.  He was the next one for the flu to take down.  He had to call in to work.  So far, no fever for him, but he did rest a lot yesterday.  He went to school today.

So far, so good for me.  We are definitely keeping kleenex in business in this house.  I keep using hand sanitizer between wiping noses (Avery's, not Scott's).

Right now I'm feeling pretty let down by the flu shots we received in the fall, but I've been told that everyone would be much sicker had we not gotten them.  OK.  Praying for health around here, BUT happy a certain little 8-almost-9-year-old-girl gets to fight this one out at HOME.