One week at home with a sick kid - NOT FUN!

Well, the last week has been just lovely... okay, not really.

Shelby went to a birthday party/sleepover last Saturday.  I knew they had a cat and warned her that if her asthma acted up, I would come get her, you know the deal.  Well she must've had fun, because I didn't even get a goodnight call!  On Sunday, I went to pick her up.  She was cranky (duh, you barely sleep at sleepovers!) and had a cough.  Darn!  I told her right away that we're just going to have to steer clear of all houses with cats for now.  Her cough continued throughout the night.

Monday at 5:30am Shelby comes into my room saying she doesn't feel good.  I reach up to feel her head and swear I could've gotten a burn!  Her temp was 102.8.  I called the pediatrician as soon as they opened and they got her in for a 10:15am appointment.

Our pediatrician's are great!  Monday we saw Dr. G. she laughs at all my jokes - so of course, I love her!  She said with Shelby's history of asthma, she was going to prescribe Tamiflu and instructed me to have Shelby use the nebulizer every four hours.  We haven't used her nebulizer in several years, so I knew this is pretty serious.  Also, ibuprofen every 6 hours for fever.  Okay!  We stopped at Walgreens and they said that they had to make the Tamiflu (apparently the manufacturer has a huge backlog and can't keep up with the orders), and told me to come back in 90 minutes.  I got Shelby home, fed her and called the school to let them know that she was being treated for H1N1.  No, they didn't test her for it.  With her history, they chose to treat for it whether it was or not - obviously it's some type of flu!  I ran to Walgreens to pick up the Oseltavamivir (generic Tamiflu), albuterol for the nebulizer and two bottles of ibuprofen liquid.  Oh, the doctor also said no cough medicine because they do not want to suppress a cough.  The body coughs for a reason.  I was instructed to give her a Benadryl at bedtime if the coughing keeps her up.  Lovely.  Shelby kept the first dose of Tamiflu down, for two hours, then it came back up.  I called the pharmacy, they said as long as it stays in her for 15 minutes, it's gotten into her system.  Good, right?  Uh huh.  So then it's time for the 2nd dose, that didn't wait - it came up within a minute.  Nice...  Her fever never went below 101.7, and it was suggested that I get her into a luke warm bath to lower her temp.  That backfired too!  Her temp shot up to 103.8!  Jeesh!

Tuesday, a nurse from the pediatrician's office called to check on Shelby.  I told her the troubles she was having.  She suggested Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.  You see, one dose is only 4ml, that's less than a teaspoon!  She asked if I had tasted it, so I did.  It was pretty bitter, no wonder Shelby wasn't happy about taking it.  So, I mixed 1ml of the medicine with 1ml of chocolate syrup and Shelby kept it down!  Woo hoo!  Success!  So, I've split each dose in 1/2 so she does two "shots" in the morning and another two at night.  Problem solved!

Next, the darn fever!  It did get down below 103 before I tucked Shelby into bed on Monday night and all day Tuesday. 

Today (Thursday) her fever is still hanging out between 99 & 100.  Her cough is still nasty!  Both of us have had it with the cough.  I'm getting one too, but no fever for me (I think the flu shot is preventing me from getting worse, thank goodness!)  The minute she opens her mouth to say something, she coughs!  Poor baby!

The plan is to call the pediatrician tomorrow morning.  Find out if there is anything else we can do.

Keep the good thoughts and prayers coming please.  Being holed up in this house is wearing on us both!!