Swine Flu Survivor

Cameroni,
Your Mommy has missed you so much these last few days. I started to feel bad on Tuesday night and woke up at 4:00 am to a horrible fever and achiness all over. The doctor just around the corner from our house could miraculously see me that afternoon, and confirmed that I had a 104 degree fever and a positive test for Influenza A - which they were assuming and treating as the the dreaded swine flu!!! The doctor told me that it was actually a milder strain going around now than it will be later this winter, so maybe it was a blessing to get it now. He said most people are better in 3-4 days, which in my case was accurate.

But man, did those three days go by miserably. As if the fever and aches weren't bad enough, the medicine that I got, Tamiflu, is apparently the chemotherapy of flu treatments. It apparently has to almost kill you to make you feel better. I was suddenly feverish, then had chills, then I couldn't keep any food down. I am all for losing a few pounds, but the flu is not the way to do it! The first two days, I barely left our bed at all. Your Daddy said the best way to not contaminate the whole house and get both of you sick too was for me to just avoid contact with the rest of the house. We tried to keep everything super sanitized with Lysol and bleach wipes and hand sanitizer, and as hard as it was, I think it really did help. (Wish I could go back in time and give myself a heads up that spraying Lysol on your new dark bronze door handle will actually ruin the finish, but hey...)

The hardest part was that I couldn't go anywhere or touch anything or anyone. Thank goodness that Mrs. Cara didn't freak out and still let you spend the days with her and Ainslee. She figured they had already been exposed to my germiness earlier in the week, so what good would it be for you to be stuck home around me even more? I just missed holding you and giving you kisses. Thursday night, I cried watching Daddy feed you dinner because you seemed so happy and content and I just felt like I was missing out. I even asked if maybe I could put you to bed if I took a shower and used lots of hand sanitizer, but Daddy said we had been doing so well and had better stick to our guns. I just had to settle for you waving to me every morning before you left and each night before you Daddy put you to bed, but mommies need more than just waves! It was like I was stuck in prison or something! Just miserable.

Your Daddy had to pull double duty this week, driving you everywhere, doing all the dishes, going to the grocery store. I told him it was a taste of being a single dad, and he said he didn't know how people manage like that. Fortunately, you seemed to barely notice how one-sided things were. You seemed happy to have all that extra Daddy time and he said he loved getting to spend so much time with you too.

So I think I am slowly getting over the hump. Yesterday, I only made it out of bed to shower, and today I managed to get out of bed long enough to wash all the sheets. So much better. And I managed to keep down a real dinner. I was getting really tired of counting Gatorade as a meal. Mostly, I wanted to say thank you to all the people that have told us that they are praying for us - for me to feel better quickly and for you and Daddy to stay healthy and avoid this flu. Friends, co-workers, even your Grandma's church group! And I think it is working. I guess having a paranoid husband who works in the medical industry can come in handy. :)

And here's his bad joke of the day: A friend sent a text asking if I was feeling better, and Bo responded, "Much better. The doctor gave her some OINKment." sigh.