FLU :-(

The kids are out of school this coming week for the Mardi Gras holiday. It won't be a fun week, though. Son #3 has the flu. I knew his buddy at school was diagnosed with the flu and wasn't in school Tuesday and Wednesday so I figured it was only a matter of time.

Son #3 (who turns 6 in a couple of weeks) came home from school Thursday and complained of headache and nausea. I gave him a Children's Motrin, and he immediately gave it right back, if you catch my drift. He had a low fever most of the evening and couldn't keep anything down. Not even water. He and I spent the night in the living room with his new best friend, Mr. Wastepaper Basket.

On Friday, the nausea subsided. Or migrated south (if you catch my drift again). His fever was up to 101.3, but he was able to eat a couple of dry waffles. Later he complained that he felt like he "just got off a spinny ride" which I took to mean dizzy. I called the doctor's office and the nurse who screens the calls said it didn't sound like flu since his fever wasn't very high (later that evening it was 103.8). She advised that we monitor him "for a couple of days."

Persistence pays off, though, and she did fit us in. By this time Son #3 was quite lethargic and fell asleep on the exam table while we were waiting for the doctor. She walked in, took one look, and said 'flu.' She did a nasal swab to confirm (*that* woke Son #3 up). Since we brought him in within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, she prescribed Tamiflu, which doesn't kill the virus, but it is supposed to lessen the "down time" from 7 - 10 days (!) to 5 - 7 days.

A good thing I didn't monitor him for a couple of days, as the nurse suggested. At that point, it would've been useless to start the Tamiflu. We're knocking wood (and obsessively washing hands) that Son #3 seems to be the only one affected.

Son #3 is more alert today, a little ornery and argumentative, which tells me he's starting to feel better. Still, it's going to be a long week.