Don't be scared just because H1N1 is here

Prior to last week, I didn’t know anyone who had been diagnosed with H1N1, also known as the dreaded swine flu as many in the media have portrayed it. Since then, it seems like all sorts of people around me, including my own son, have gotten it. And guess what? It’s not as bad as I feared it would be.
I learned early last week the son of a former co-worker was sick for a week with H1N1. She told me her son was sicker than he’s ever been before, and the headache associated with it lasted for days. Her other son, however, only got mildly sick from it, she said.
As someone who’s never gotten the flu, and I’m knocking on wood right now, learning firsthand that people I know have been infected with it, and the sickness was bad for one of them, sent waves of fear through my body.
I didn’t want to get sick like that but, more importantly, I didn’t want my 4-year-old son, Braden, who’s exposed to dozens of kids nearly every day at daycare who pass germs back and forth to each other, to get sick like that. It’s a fear most parents probably understand.
It’s also a fear that became a reality last Friday when I got a call from my mother-in-law saying he suddenly developed a fever and a cough.
Braden was with his grandma, following a day at daycare, because my wife was in a wedding and I had to take photos at Empty Bowls the following day. The plan called for her to watch him so my wife could attend the wedding rehearsal in Winneconne Friday night and I could do my job the following morning. I would then meet Braden and his grandma in the early afternoon so all of us could go to the wedding together.
Those plans changed, of course, when Braden got sick. My wife still did the wedding stuff she needed to do, and I still took the Empty Bowls photos, but following that I picked him up and took him home, skipping the wedding entirely.
Fortunately, Braden wasn’t as sick as I feared he could be. After taking some medicine, his fever dropped, and at times he was as energetic as he normally is, which is to say he could wear me out in just a few minutes worth of playtime with him.
His appetite diminished greatly, though. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, because at 4 I feel like he’s already eating our paychecks away. I didn’t think that would happen until he became a teenager, but the boy can eat with the best of them, as some days it seems like he can out eat me, and I’m 200 pounds heavier than him.
Hoping it may have been a one-day thing, that night, after my wife returned from the wedding, his fever returned. His temperature spiked to more than 102 degrees, causing him to sweat while sleeping in his bed. This in turn caused him to get the chills, which in turn caused both my wife and me to worry.
We called an on-duty nurse at Marshfield Clinic at 11:30 p.m. to see if we should come in, or what actions we should take. She returned our call at 12:30 a.m., apologizing for the length of time it took to get back to us but noting it was because of the large amount of people like us calling with similar questions.
She said we should continue to monitor him, and if the cough or fever continues for several more days we should bring him to the doctor.
The next day the fever went down and his energy returned again, although a family plan to see “Where the Wild Things Are” was cancelled. That was a good thing, as the film wasn’t appropriate for a 4-year old (see my review on page 12) nor as good as I had hoped it would be.
We kept him out of daycare, as we were told we should by the nurse and common sense, but since Braden’s cough continued for several more days, I took him to a pediatrician at Marshfield Clinic Tuesday.
After examining him and having a chest X-ray taken to make sure he didn’t have pneumonia, a doctor said Braden more than likely had H1N1, as that is the only flu going around right now, but he was well on his way to recovery. Staying home several more days was all he needed to do.
In addition to Braden, three of his cousins have gotten the flu, as well as a number of other children we know. Fortunately, my wife and I have stayed H1N1-free, despite close contact with him – again, I’m knocking on wood – and I’m thankful Braden’s experience with it was fairly mild compared to what it could have been like.
And hopefully by sharing this experience, others who haven’t come into contact with it won’t be as scared as I had been.