Got The Flu?

As I write this post I am praying that I don't end up getting sick. Right now my daughter has the Flu and is starting to recover. Her red face has been replaced by slightly rosy cheeks and she's able to open her eyes and watch television. Her appetite is slowly coming back and she's asking for water. That's definitely a move in the right direction.

It all started when she came home from school on Tuesday with glossy eyes and rosy cheeks. I could tell that she did not feel well. She was supposed to go to ballet but didn't feel up to it. That was a big "red flag" because she usually will not miss ballet for anything! I put her in bed at around 5pm and she slept until the next morning. The next day she stayed in bed the entire day and her fever would not go away even with Tylenol. I decided it was time to take her to the doctor. I took her half-asleep and they did the nasal swab and throat swab to test for strep and the flu. The results came back positive for the Flu type A. I was surprised because the only symptom she had was a fever. She didn't have a cough or sore throat. Her ears did not hurt. However, by the time we saw the doctor she started complaining of her ears hurting a little.

I talked to the doctor about my options. He basically said that drugs would really be a waste of my money since they basically were for Type B Flu and that basically I should just let it run its course. She wasn't really THAT sick and so he felt good about her recovery. He cautioned me about giving her too many over the counter meds and told me to let her rest. The last advice they gave me was to make sure she got plenty of liquids... the more, the better. I stopped by my local CVS and got some ginger ale. When we got home I gave her a cup to drink and then put her in bed. She slept until this morning.

I noticed by 9pm last night that I was starting to feel feverish and achy. One of my friends told me about a drug called "oscillococcinum" and how it seemed to work for her. She told me that within 6 hours she saw her child get better. I thought it couldn't hurt and it was homeopathic so I wouldn't have to worry about drug interactions with the little Tylenol I gave her at night. It works similar to Zycam which helps relieve symptoms but doesn't really "cure" the illness. It's also a good preventive med. I went to CVS and purchased a box and gave my daughter half the dose and took the other half. I am not kidding you when I say that within an hour I felt great!! I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but this morning I felt a little yucky again and so I took another dose and gave another dose to my daughter and we both are feeling great right now. As I write this post, my daughter is actually up out of the couch and looks great!! Amazing!

I hope and pray all of you reading this do not have to fight the Flu. However, it's exciting to know that there are meds out there that actually work against the flu. The best preventive medicine is hand washing! I have been mindful of this lately. For example, the other day I went to the store and did some grocery shopping. I decided to get some food from the deli and take it home. When I got home I was about to start eating when all of a sudden I realized that my hands had been on the germy shopping cart and I needed to wash them. That is just one little thing that we can do to help prevent getting colds, flu, etc... It's a good idea to teach your children the same thing. Hand sanitizers are good for when you are on the go, but hand washing is truly the best preventive medicine.
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The proof is in the results.
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