Influenza

On Sunday, Jan 25th Dave was tired all day. Just exhausted. He took several naps but it didn't seem to help.

On Monday, Jan 26th Dave woke up with an awful cough. I mean, he just could not stop coughing. And he felt horrible, all ache-y. He decided to stay home. A few hours later he had a fever. That evening his fever was so high that he was shivering and hallucinating. I could stand three feet away and feel the heat coming off of him. He spent most of the asleep. Every couple of hours he would wake up and dial in to a conference call for work.

On Tuesday he wasn't any better. Still feverish. Still coughing. Still feeling really awful. He stayed home again. Spent most of the day asleep, waking up now and then for conference calls. That evening he was having trouble breathing, even after taking his inhaler three times. So he drove himself to the Jourcentralen (kind of like Urgent Care in the US. Kind of.) There they gave him several breathing treatments and prescriptions for antibiotics (since he had asthma, to ward off any secondary infections he might pick up whil having the flu) and cough medicine. He felt much better after the breathing treatments. Amazing how being able to breathe makes such a big difference. But he still felt really awful. His fever broke during the night. He got up and changed his shirt several times because it was soaked through with sweat.

Wednesday he stayed home again. No fever but he still had a bad cough and felt completely washed out. He spent most of the day asleep.

Thursday he only took two or three naps and actually logged in to work for a couple of hours.

On Friday, Jan 30, he went back to work. Dave has never missed that many days (in a row) due to illness. In all the years that I've known him he has rarely had a fever, and has never had one that a handfull of ibuprofen didn't knock out.



On Monday, Jan 26, Tipton woke up with a bad cough and a fever. I kept him home from school. He spent the day lying on the couch watching videos and/or napping. I started him on a tylenon/motrin rotation to try and keep the fever in check.

On Tuesday he still had a cough and fever. I kept him home again. Through out the day he would disappear and I would find him sound asleep in his bed. Tipton has NEVER voluntarily taken naps, so I knew he felt bad. That evening his fever hit 104 (this while on the tylenol/motrin.) I put Tipton in a tepid bath to bring down his fever. I have never been so relieved to see 103.7 on the thermometer. Dave and I discussed whether or not to take Tipton to the Jourcentralen. Dave was already going to go. But we decided to keep Tipton home. His fever was starting to come down and I didn't want to have to wake him up. Also, I didn't want to have him sit in the waiting room with all the other sick people.

Wednesday Tipton still had fever and cough. He stayed home again. Again, he would disappear and I'd find him asleep in his bed.

Thursday Tipton still had a fever and a cough but he was starting to feel better. I could tell because he said he was bored and he started arguing with Lilli.

On Friday Tipton woke with no fever. He still had a cough. I kept him home again. It was the 100th day at his school, and his class was going on a field trip to Andi's Playland. I did not want to let him loose in the germ factory. Later that afternoon his fever returned.

Saturday Tipton was fever free. He was arguing with Lilli and loudly complaining of being bored. I knew he was on the mend.

On Monday, Jan 26th I sent Lilli to school. She had been coughing a little that morning, but it was usually right after Tipton had coughed. I wasn't sure if Lilli had a real cough or was just imitating Tipton. She did not have a fever. So I reasoned that it was better for her to be away from Dave and Tipton and all of their germs. When I dropped her at school I explained to her teacher that Lilli's father and brother were home with the flu, but that Lilli didn't have a fever so I brought her to school. I told her to call me if Lilli came down with the flu and I needed to come and get her. A little over two hours later I got a phone call. Lilli had a fever and I needed to pick her up. I took her temperature when I got her home. It was 102.9.

On Tuesday Lilli woke with a cough and a fever. She spent most of the day lying on the couch watching videos. She fought against napping. Every now and then she would drift off for a few minutes while watching a video but that was about it.

On Wednesday Lilli's temperature was 103.5 and I thought "Oh, it's ONLY 103.5" It's amazing how perspective can change your reactions. Tuesday afternoon I would have freaked that her temperature was that high, but after Tipton's temperature Tuesday evening...

On Thursday Lilli still had a pretty high fever (in the 103s). But she was arguing with Tipton so I knew she was on the upswing.

Lilli still had a fever on Friday. And on Saturday.

On Sunday Lilli woke without a fever. It was the first day in a week that neither Dave, Tipton nor Lilli had a fever. To celebrate we went out for pizza. (And also because if Mommy didn't get out of the house she was going to have to kill one of them.) Lilli ate a few bites of her pizza and then said that her ear hurt. I felt her forehead. She had a fever. I judged that it was at least 103.2 (I had gotten very good at predicting exact temperatures - due to all the experience I had been getting all week.) I held her in my lap during the rest of the meal. When we got home I took her temperature. It was 103.4.

On Monday Tipton went to school and I kept Lilli home. She did not have a fever, but had complained of her ear hurting when she was eating breakfast. I called the Vårdcentralen (doctor's office) at 8:30. (They opened at 8:00 but I was running around getting Tipton ready for school and explaining to Lilli that she couldn't go to school.) They called me back around 9:30 to tell me that they didn't have any more appointments that day. They suggested that I take her to the Jourcentralen (which didn't open until 5:00pm) or call back the next day to try and get an appointment. Lilli seemed absolutely fine and played happily. But whenever she started to eat she said that her ear hurt. When Dave got home that night I took Lilli to the Jourcentralen. There were people standing around outside the building. In the cold. The waiting room was packed, not even standing room. I elbowed my way to where the 'take a number' machine and the 'entry forms' were. The triage nurse saw us pretty quickly. She said that Lilli would definitely see a doctor today, but she suggested that if we lived nearby that we should go home and wait, then come back around 9:00. At that time the waiting room wouldn't be as crowded. And there was no way they would be able to get to her before then. So we did. We went home and I put Lilli to bed. About an hour later I woke her up and we went back to the Jourcentralen. After 20 minutes we were taken to an exam room. Ten minutes later we saw the doctor. He looked in her ear and said "Infection." He said he would send a prescription for antibiotics to the Apoteket. So I carried Lilli back to the car and we drove to the Apoteket. By 9:45 we were paying for her prescription. We were home by 10:00pm.

I kept Lilli home the next day, Tuesday Feb 2. I wanted her to be on antibiotics for a full 24 hours before I sent her back to the germ factory - uh, I mean school.

I am very fortunate and VERY thankful that I did not get the flu. I'm not sure what we would have done if I had. Well, I imagine it still would have been me running to the store for orange juice and taking care of everyone... But still. It could have been much worse. I could have gotten the flu. Or they could have had the stomach flu. Or the Winter Vomiting Sickness. And let me tell you, Dave TRUELY appreciates me. Maybe it was just the high fever, but several times a day all week long he would tell me how much he appreciated me and how he didn't know what they'd do without me...

I'm just glad I was able to take care of them, and that my family is healthy again!