Influenza A

A.K.A. "the flu". Two words that made my heart drop when the Dr. came into our room, and spoke them. I believe for me, this diagnosis freaked me out for two very good (to me) reasons... 1)We have never had the flu in our home. Seriously. 2)I've recently been seeing such sad, sad stories on Facebook about healthy people passing from this respiratory flu going around. She was started straight away on Tamiflu, so that's great! She's doing pretty good, I must say. Don't get me wrong, she's pretty sick, but she's not horrible. I ended up calling for a medic transport for her on Sunday, a few hours after my post.. something I have not done in 11 years. There was just something that made me not feel comfortable driving her in myself. As I mentioned on the previous post, she had a fever, and I gave her meds, which brought her temp back to normal. Not too long after, I noticed her fingertips were purple. Not a light grayish, kind of purple.. they were, "Your turning violet Violet!" Just her fingertips and nail beds, as well as her toes. They were also cold to the touch. Her lips were pink though, and her oxygen wasn't terrible, so I was confused. The thermometer was reading 95 degrees under both arms.. (I questioned the authenticity of this, but was told it very well could have been a true reading) She was also shivering, regardless of having 3 heavy blankets on her. To add insult, she was in a deep hibernating type of state. I know, I know.. she is the epitome of being in hibernation, but folks.. my girl was OUT COLD. But like I said.. her vitals weren't scary. I didn't understand what she was doing. Now, it makes sense. Her body was doing what's called "shunting". It was gearing up for a high fever. It pulls all energy from your extremities, so it can focus all of it's attention on the core. Her core got the heat.. the fighting mechanism! Her "out like a light" state is how her body is reacting to the flu. The Dr. gave me an example that made sense... when your other children get sick, they turn in to washcloths on the couch, just exhausted.. that's how she's feeling. This is our 3rd day back in (same room as 2 weeks ago! Our friends saved it for us!) and she is alternating between SUPER relaxed, to seizing back to back. Not too much of a middle ground right now. She was started on Terbutaline, which is a bronchodilator like Albuterol, that goes into your IV, today for her wheezing and to help open her up. It works really well for her! Today, she and I had fun with Snapchat filters! Fine, Momma had fun with Snapchat filters and subjected Kira to humiliating things like Mario mustaches and werewolf faces, and just cuddled most of the day. This woman is patting herself on the back, and I think you will join in after you hear this shocking news. OBVIOUSLY, I was craving Panda, so I decided to just do it, and hopped in my car to go get me a "Pandy dinner!". I parked in front, walked in, walked up to the counter.. then turned around and walked out. I walked in to Panda's neighbor, "Erik's Deli" and grabbed myself HALF a sandwich and HALF of a house salad. WHAT? WHO am I? And since WHEN did I eat half of anything? If you're about to tell me to indulge right now, trust me, I do. Last night for dinner, I had a possibly literal 5 pound container of ice cream, with ALL of the sundae toppings to boot. It's okay though.. MY "New Year" hasn't technically started yet. I get a do-over starting next month! So my "back on track" goals will get my attention when I decide it's New Year's eve! Kira and I are so very grateful for all of the friends, family and amazing support system that we have in our lives. You make us feel very loved, thank you! <3