Protecting Your Children From Getting Sick During Flu Season

Everyone knows it is sickness season. It is inevitable. Whether you are dropping the kids off at daycare, going to McDonalds, or simply touching a doorknob at a local store, you will be exposed to sickness this season. It just depends on your body's ability to fight it off. Some are more lucky than others, i suppose. I guess we were not the lucky ones.

Being the loving mother that I am, I enjoy taking my daughter to places like Chuck E. Cheese and Slinky Action Zone, even though I am a major germophobe. A few weeks ago, my husband and I took her to Slinkys, as our form of apology for dragging her through the grocery store and department stores that eight-hour shopping day. As my husband and three-year-old daughter ran through the tubes giggling and having a great time, I sat at a table with my six-month-old daughter, in attempts to keep her from exposure to whatever germs may be infesting the place. With my bottle of hand sanitizer, or "hanitizer" as my daughter calls it, I used half the bottle just in that two-hour time period. I used it on my daughter, my husband, my baby, and myself, as well as my sister and her kids. Seeing a young girl walk by, coughing without covering her mouth just played in my mind over and over. I tried to ignore it, until my six-month-old began to get sick three days later. She had a small cough, which turned into a bad cough. It sounded like a seal barking, or a duck being strangled. That turned into a fever that peaked at 103.

Skipping back to a month earlier, I was forced to take my baby to the hospital for similar symptoms, where they looked in her ears, and instantly diagnosed her with a virus that would have to pass with time. I felt very embarassed at the panic, even though it was my daughter's first time being sick, and I am sure most mothers would react similarly. The hospital didnt hesitate to send me a $200 bill for that visit.

So here we were, a month later, with the same horrible cough, and fever. She began screaming incessantly. This continued throughout the night, and when she did fall asleep, she was wimpering in her sleep. I decided to wait out the next day and if things got worse, I would be forced to take her in. When you dont have medical insurance, you learn not to go to the hospital unless you REALLY need it. A sudden change in her behavior made me realize this was serious. She stopped crying and her lips turned slightly blue. Her skin was rough, and her eyes were sunken and red. We packed up the kids and hurried to the hospital, where they took her in right away. A few blood tests and X-rays later, we got the results. She had RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, which is a very difficult to get rid of virus. On top of that, she had two ear infections, pneumonia, a high fever, and dehydration, and her blood oxygen levels were dangerously low. I knew she needed to be admitted, though I was hoping it could remain outpatient. Coming from a father who is employed at this particular hospital, I understood how much it actually costs to spend a night in the hospital. Two days later, she was released, almost healthy. My husband and I decided that the next time we are thinking about going to Slinky or any place for children again, we are going to save ourselves the money and check into the Hilton presidential suite instead.