Loose Feet

For those of you who might be even vaguely familiar with Junie B. Jones, you'll know that in the book (Almost) a Flowergirl, Junie B's parents don't want her to have a boyfriend at such a tender age because they want her to be "foot loose and fancy free." Junie B. remembers that as "loose feet."

K- and I have decided that today will be Loose Feet Day. Because of NEOEA Day (I don't know what it stands for other than the kids get the day off), we decided that we are going to spend some nice time together, have fun and go see a movie. What are we going to see?

She's excited. It opens today and we're planning on going to the first show. We'll spring for movie popcorn and lots of Purell. It is an hour and a half, so we'll do that, head on over to celebrate my aunt's birthday with her, then on to the library. It should be a fun day!

Smiles in my day:
- Getting all of my chores done while K- was at school so that we can do something fun together tonight. I'm writing this on Thursday afternoon and have the beds made, laundry hanging to dry, the bathroom cleaned, living room tidied, the carpets swept, floors, steps and play area floor mopped, clothing is folded and put away, K-'s drawers have been purged of smaller sizes and a chicken is roasting in the oven. All this without the use of caffeine! My evening bonus? Every single bit of laundry is laundered and my dirty clothes bucket is COMPLETELY EMPTY! Since I laundered the balance of things after baths/showers, there will be no dirty laundry entering the bucket for 12 entire hours! :)! Hubs cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, so that was a huge help! :)!!
- I have weaned myself completely from caffeine and will not get into a habit of drinking/consuming quite as much of it anymore.

The evening update:
Perhaps we will be having loose feet at home since K- is running a bit of a fever this evening, though the Advil reduce it from 101.9 F - 99.0 F. Argh. Hopefully, it won't return and she will be okay. She had a flu shot 9/11, but we haven't scored an H1N1 vaccine yet. All of the children in her class are coughing and several have been out for several days at a time. We're hoping that it is just a blip on the radar. A friend reported that her son had a fever last night, but was just fine today. Who knows?

The Friday AM update:
Sadly, K-'s fever shot up to 103.7 F. Her cheeks were so rosey this AM that I could see them in the little light of dawn. The nurse at the doctor's office diagnosed BY PHONE ONLY as her having H1N1. She has been holding her own just fine, the fever did break and we have it down to 101 F, she is functioning, so it has left me to wonder if the diagnosis is actually correct. I was so mad at the doctor's office. Tamiflu is being reserved for people who have a surpressed immune system and everyone else is left to fight it off, but "If she has problems breathing, take her to the ER." After telling her something about how they are leaving me stranded on a ship and that they will only help me if my child is potentially dying, I hung up on her. (Not a grown-up reaction, but I didn't swear.) Regardless, Hubs got freaked out and worried, so he took the day off work. Right now, he is running around Super Wal with a list o' needs. (New vaporizer, he felt the need to replace the not dead batteries in the ear scan thermometer . . . ) Right now she is eating toast with butter. She is lying on the cot in the middle of my living room and watching far too much TV. That's okay. It's the part of the fun of being ill, right? :S

Because what's life without another update?
It is 12:20 PM and K-'s fever is 99.3 F. That's not actually even considered a fever. If she had H1N1, we wouldn't be able to break the fever that quick. Through this, I have gotten even more education about H1N1 (I was on the CDC last night, but have a friend that works in public health), so I feel myself more educated than what I was before. Actually, I can say that as a "we." Hubs did decide that he would go to work, as they had another school group coming in and he knew that they needed help. K- is eating. She is awake and has been since about 6:30 AM. She is playing. She is watching Goonies right now. She does have a cough, but we have a vaporizer running and children's decongestant on hand.

And Melissa, I agree with you wholeheartedly. The first day that symptoms truly hit is when the Tamiflu needs to be administered. However, the nurse didn't rank K- as a risk enough to be seen. I'm sure that I'm probably panicked mom #1000 that she has had to speak to about the same thing and my thought is that I'm not the only one who has hung up on them.

For what it's worth, this has again confirmed and allowed me to verbalize what I know about H1N1. It is considered a seasonal virus. Unfortunately, the virus is in a form that we haven't seen, thus making our immune systems kick into high gear. However, it is a virus. Some get hit harder than others. In discussing this with Kim, my public health friend, I even told her that every 5 years or so, I get hit so hard with a cold that it knocks me to my knees. This is one of those. There has been a public panic about it, and in cases certainly rightly so. The first 10 minutes of each news broadcast is dedicated to the H1N1 outbreak. I didn't sleep last night, listening to K- toss, turn and cough in worrying for her, my husband, my parents, my in-law's, my 5 month old nephew and anyone else that she is in contact with.

The fact of the matter is that K- goes to public school. There are approximately 550 kids in K-'s elementary school building. Germs go around. Funk and gunk are passed. All we can do is to teach our kids to wash their hands thoroughly, keep nails trimmed to a very short length, cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough, don't share utensils . . . , take vitamins, eat good foods, get exercise and plenty of sleep. In fact after things that I've learned today, I've been left questioning whether I will be getting the H1N1 vaccination for K-. Previously, I was all for it.

Stay well, my friends. May the hazmat tent not fall on any of your homes.