Influenza

Our poor little Bryce got influenza. It was scary how sick he got and how quickly. No one in our family has ever had influenza before this year, and hopefully it will be the last time. On Sunday he started saying he was sick and not feeling well. I could tell by how he was acting that it wasn't just stay home from church type sick but that he was legitimately sick. Sure enough the next thing I new he was throwing up and running a fever. He was miserable this continued into Monday. Then Monday afternoon after he woke up from a nap I started noticing that he was having trouble breathing. He would get so upset and cry because he couldn't breathe and then he would get even worse. He also started not being able to stay awake. He was super lethargic. I talked to Landon and we decided to take him into the night clinic. 

We took him in and the doctor said "I probably don't even need to run the test, but I will anyways, but I can tell just from looking at him and the symptoms he is having that he has influenza". Sure enough the test came back positive. 

Influenza is also called the flu. It is a viral illness that affects the air passages of your lungs. It is different from the common cold. The flu can easily be passed from one person to another. It may be spread through the air by coughing and sneezing. Or it can be spread by touching the sick person and then touching your own eyes, nose, or mouth. Symptoms of the flu may be mild or severe. They can include extreme tiredness (wanting to stay in bed all day), chills, fevers, muscle aches, soreness with eye movement, headache, and a dry hacking cough. Some people will throw up with the flu as well, however all don't. 

Then we had the choice whether or not to give him tamiflu. The doctor told us the pros and cons of the medication and in the end we decided not to give it to him. Honestly we probably couldn't have gotten it down him without him throwing up anyways because of his sensitivities to eating so I think it was the best choice. Also the medication wouldn't treat the symptoms it only made the flu last fewer days and even that was debatable because every doctor believed something different about this, so we went with not giving it to him. Pretty much he was going to be a sick boy for the next few days and wasn't supposed to return to school until the following Monday. Between Tanner and I we pretty much worked it out to where I would work the mornings and then come home when Tanner went into work. I did take all day Tuesday off. Bryce for the most part just slept the first few days he couldn't even stay awake to watch tv. He started to feel a little better by the end of the week and by the weekend was up running around playing again. We are glad our little guy got over this without any serious complications. It was scary for a few days and I hope he never has to get that sick again.