Flu Season

Last week was absolutely nuts for us. On the 12th school was cancelled for snow/ice. Awesome! Cade was already out of school the following Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. day so having Friday off was going to make for a long weekend. On Saturday the 13th Cade started to not feel very good. He was complaining of a sore throat and ended up having a low grade fever at 99.8. Sunday morning he woke up and was crying because his throat was hurting so bad and he had almost lost his voice. I took his temp and it was 101. Off to urgent care we went. Cade had a flu and strep test done and they both came back negative. We were told it could be too early for the test to come back positive or he could just have a virus. We came home and kept taking Tylenol. Monday morning he woke up with a 103 temp and I immediately called his pediatrician. We were in her office at 9am and he was swabbed for flu and strep, again. Both came back negative. Again. ugh! His doctor told us that he had a virus and just to watch him and continue to give him Tylenol. From Monday to Thursday we could not get his fever under 102. He was quarantined to his room and away from every one. With Jonathan's busy season hitting, Jace being only 1, and no need for Momma to catch anything we had to keep him separate from all of us. Thursday morning Jace had his 15 month check up. I asked their doctor what I can do for Cade since I couldn't get his fever to break and he had taken 3 full days of Tylenol/Motrin and nothing was helping. She said she needed to see him again just to check him out again and make sure nothing serious was going on. Thursday afternoon I was back at the doctors office with Cade for a recheck. They flu swabbed him again. Negative. They finger pricked him. POSITIVE FLU!! Finally!! Answers. Unfortunately Cade had battled the flu on his own. He was on the upswing and was feeling more normal just without as much energy as usual. Now he is finishing his 10 day antibiotic and feeling great. His only symptoms were a sore throat, some congestion, and a fever. No body aches or chills or any typical flu symptoms. Thankfully Jonathan was able to stay home with me until Wednesday to help me with both kids.

Having to watch your child be sick but can't get an answer as to what is wrong is scary. It brought back so many memories and fears to both Jonathan and me. That week at Children's Hospital, so many negative tests, so many unknowns. It became a reality check. We were scared with Cade having such a high fever so we did not sleep very well. We were nervously checking his temp all the time. Like every 30 minutes. We just wanted it to break. We knew how fast things could go downhill. We had seen it before. We didn't want or need that to happen.

We are now in recovery mode. Recover from little sleep and sickness. Luckily, Cade didn't miss much school. School was closed Tuesday and Wednesday for snow/ice issues and Thursday it was on a 2 hour delay. He missed Thursday and Friday. He has a wonderful teacher who does not like homework at all so he didn't have any make up work!!!!! He was able to go back to school Monday and has really enjoyed being out of the house, even if that means being at school. His energy is back but he still has a lingering cough. I am sure that will last for a little while.

Jace has decided this week to start really taking some steps. It is so much fun to watch him grow and to be so proud of himself every time he walks. He claps and smiles for himself like he has just done something so awesome. We think it is awesome but to see the joy on his face is priceless.

Tax season is now in full swing. Saturday appointments are happening and 7 day work weeks are beginning. Soccer season will be starting up in the next few weeks so we will be adding another busy schedule in to our already busy schedule. Life is about to get crazy.