I’ll have to say I’ve paid more attention to the flu this year than any other…well, except the years we’ve gotten it. How can you not pay attention…it’s been on the news for almost a year now. I knew that the Swine/H1N1 flu was going to be worse this fall (because the news told me so), but how much can you really do to ‘prepare’?

I’ll have to confess that I’m the one in our family who’s best at the medical stuff…I don’t freak out, but calmly go about treating minor things or running to the ER for major ones… DH…not so good…remember that whole ‘parents that are a doctor & nurse’ syndrome…and remember how he was suddenly ‘having flu like symptoms’ each time I went into labor…yeah, I caught on the third time…strong man, but medical stuff…not so much. Need a patient advocate?…I’m a good one…given time, I find out the right questions to ask, I don’t waste the docs time with things I can find out on my own and I’m an informed Mom who feels better about what’s going on because I know what’s going on…DH…not so much…I had to give him the short list of questions to ask when I woke up from my LB surgery…only because I was afraid I wouldn’t remember talking to them.

The one thing that secretly (shhh!) freaks me out a little bit medically…pandemics…I blame it on that movie ‘Outbreak’. Ever since I saw that I’ve been secretly (shhh!) afraid that it’s going to wipe out the human race…and hey…boo-boo’s I can see...I can butterfly and steri-strip a deep cut like a pro (I had a nurse mom too)…but germs…I can’t see those. Now I don’t want to add to the mass-hysteria…I’m not overly freaked about this flu…just aware.

DS2 and I both have Asthma…we’ve both had pneumonia…him; several times and me a half dozen. I’ve had some major respiratory incidents; notably a 12 week continuous BAD cough that had me about ready to curl up in a ball in a padded room from sheer exhaustion. DS2 has had some weird (not severe) auto-immune things in the past. He seems to get sick easier than the rest of us now…and he’s not a complainer, so when he gets sick he’s usually really sick. So hearing that this flu strain can have rare severe respiratory problems associated with it made my ears perk up.

I’d been calling our Internist, the Pediatrician and the Doc I set up for DS1 at his school since early September trying to schedule all our shots (we always get the seasonal flu shot). The Ped. won and got the seasonal flu shots in first and DS2 had his at least 3 weeks ago. DH got his seasonal one at work last week. I believe DS1 had his already as well (I forget the schedule I sent him). I’m going this morning for my seasonal shot as they finally got it in...and DD, well she's off traveling again so she asked me to make an appointment today...airplanes and flu...yikes.

and this is how we all got Swine Flu

I picked DS2 up at school yesterday afternoon for his annual physical, PFT (breathing test) and H1N1 shot and stood in the office listening to all the moms there to pick up their kids from the nurse. Apparently, the Swine flu is now rampant at the school. DS2 greeted me with an ‘I don’t feel so good.’ Uh-Oh.

The lastest celebrity victim...as if there's any question 'who done it'.

Off to the Ped. we went. The huge waiting room was as full as I’ve seen it. Coughs and sneezes were sounding off everywhere. Darn, I wished I’d bought those masks that Dad recommended we get (he’s got lung problems too).

Side note: At last year's neighborhood Halloween party I went as the Stock Market and DH went as a banker wearing a golden parachute. This year, I'm SO making the next one (maybe add a curly tail?...or maybe I'm still too fat and someone won't 'get it?!! Might be risky!):

They were so backed up we had to wait 45 min. to get in. DS1 was about to kill me by the time we got in as I was using the wait as a 'teachable moment' reminding him not to touch anything, not to touch his face, how long/best way to wash your hands, how the kids weren't using their elbows to cough/sneeze into, how many MPH a sneeze comes out at and how far it goes...and I threw him some hand sanitizer. So we went through his long 2 part PFT testing…no problems (and no fever…whew)…and then I made sure we got in his H1N1 shot before leaving; we had another appointment and so we rescheduled the physical for Friday morning (it was now 1.5 hours past the appt. time). I asked her if they could do anything for all those kids here with the flu and she said they were only seeing the ones with severe respiratory problems…hmmm.

Well, here’s hoping he got that vaccine in time…and that I didn’t infect him by taking him to the Ped’s! He was complaining of a headache this morning, and the slight sore throat is still there but no fever so I had to send him (I'm waiting for that call from the nurse). Stay well everyone…I’m off for my seasonal flu shot…