The flu has hit our house...

I kept Tessa home again today (the 2nd day now). Since she didn't seem to be getting any better, I decided to take her into the doctor. I called the doctors office right at 8:00 to try to get an appointment. The earliest one they had available was at 11:30, so I asked one of my friends if she could pick up Clay from preschool (her daughter goes to the same preschool, and they get out at 12:00). She said that was fine. I took Tessa home and ran to the store to get some groceries that we needed, and then I took Tessa to the doctor.

I had an appoitment at 11:30, so we were there about 10 minutes early, like always. We waited, and waited, while Tessa threw up, and threw up again, and again. They said they were runnning about an hour and a half behind, because they have so many sick patients right now, and they double booked (great, huh? I find that a little funny, considering all the signs they had, saying to be considerate and be on time, or they might have to reschedule your appointment--what about THEM being considerate and being on time, and not overbooking?!). So, because Tessa kept throwing up, they moved us to a room to wait there, so she could at least lie down. We waited for almost 3 hours!! My friend took Clay & her daughter to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then took Clay along when her daughter had her gymnastics class, then they went back to her house afterwards and just played. She said Clay was perfect and they had a lot of fun together.

So, when the doctor FINALLY came in, he said Tessa's lungs sounded fine (I was worried that she might have bronchitis), and he said that he would test her for the flu, because she had the symptoms. Sure enough, the test came back positive. He said because of her symptoms, he thought it was most likely the H1N1 flu, but they don't test specifically for that, but because she has been throwing up (in addition to the fever, chills, aches, and cough), that is more likely the H1N1 flu. Then he said he was concerned that she was throwing up so much that she might need to be admitted to the hospital for IV fluids. He had the nurse draw blood to check her electrolytes, but they came back good. I was VERY relieved, because I wasn't sure what I'd do with the boys if I needed to stay with Tessa in the hospital, since Neil is out of town until Thursday night.

So, in the meantime, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get to the school in time to pick up Jonah, so I called another friend, whose kids go to the school right next to our kid's elementary school. She said she picks up her kids, and could just walk over and check Jonah out 15 minutes early. So I called the school and arranged that. She said she'd just take him home with her, and then bring PJ and Jonah home after she got PJ from the Jr. High (they let out 45 minutes later than the elementary schools).

Both of my friends offered to go pick up Tessa's prescriptions for me, as well as anything else that I needed. So one friend called the pharmacy to see if they were ready. They said that because they are so busy, with so many sick people needing medicine, that it would be a couple of hours before it was ready. So she'll go pick that up and bring it here for me.

On top of all this, I was supposed to be helping throw a baby shower tonight. So, one friend also offered to get all the stuff from me, for the baby shower tonight, and take it to the home where the party will be. So I gave her all the stuff I had in the car, and she'll get the last couple things when she drops off Tessa's medicine. I called the lady whose house the shower is going to be at, to let her know what is going on. Thank goodness we have a couple other ladies that are helping put it all together, so she said not to worry about it.

I'm glad to know that there are so many people willing to help if we need anything. And I'm SO grateful for such wonderful friends!!!

Tessa is still feeling sick and hasn't been able to eat much, or keep anything down, but hopefully once we get the medicine, that will help. The doctor prescribed an oral anti-nausea medicine (that melts in the mouth quickly), as well as Tamaflu, and he refilled both her inhalers, and he gave me a prescription of phenegran with codeine if the other anti-nausea medicine doesn't work, or if she is has a lot of aches & pains, and needs something more. I'll wait to see how she's doing with the other anti-nausea medicine, and Advil, and decide about that one. I'd hate to give her something that strong if she doesn't need it.

So, anyway, that's our busy day. Hopefully Tessa can sleep well tonight and start feeling better quickly. At least if our family is going to get sick, hopefully we'll all be done and over it before the holidays!! Tessa was SO sad that she's going to miss her Activity Days party tomorrow night and her class party on Friday (and probably our church trunk-or-treat). :( I asked her if there was anything I could get for her to help her feel better, and she said, "A HORSE!" :) At least she still has a sense of humor. Poor little sweetheart...