Fact vs. Fiction

H1N1: Separating Swine Flu Fact from Fiction.

I thought I would share the above article as it has some good information. Before last week, I was quite sure that the Swine Flu would never affect my family. Unfortunately, it is pretty contagious and most of the US will be affected at some point this winter. If I were you, I would stock up on Tylenol, Motrin and other over the counter meds to help with the symptoms. I would also buy a box of surgical masks (you can get these at Walgreens/CVS) and lots of hand sanitizer. Use Clorox Wipes or Lysol on all door knobs, tv remotes and telephones. I also bought a couple of boxes of the anti-bacterial Kleenex.

The most worrisome part of this whole thing is that this virus could quite possibly mutate in the next few months and go from being a mild virus to something much more serious. H1N1 is very active right now (mid summer) when the flu season is usually very light.

While our bodies have some immunity to the flu (just simply because we've been exposed to many strains), we have virtually no immunity to the H1N1 Novel virus. This means we need to be extra careful!

On a lighter note....I want to know why they call it the Swine Flu?? I mean, we have the Asian Flu and the Spanish Flu. Why don't we use country of origin on this one and call it what it really is....the Mexican Flu? After all, you can't get this flu from eating pork products!

Summer 2009 Issue

In all the fuss with the Swine Flu, I forgot to mention that I received my Summer 2009 issue of Materet Magistra! Even though I don't homeschool, I devour this magazine when it comes in the mail! I especially loved Alice Gunther's article on "The Liturgical Year". I will be reading this issue from cover to cover! If you homeschool and you don't subscribe to this magazine, you are really missing out. Please consider getting yourself a copy soon!

Swine Flu Update: Nathan is feeling much better. He slept all night (is still sleeping at 8:19am) and I think his fever is finally gone. His nose is still stuffy and has a slight cough but we are definitely on the mend. My doctor finally called in my prescription for Tamiflu....so I can go back to work today. No one else is showing any symptoms....yet!

Swine Flu update!

Well, Nathan says he feels better today! To tell you the truth, he doesn't look much better. The fever has been better controlled and he's fighting with his sisters. Those are good signs...I think.

Interestingly enough, my employer has pretty strict rules with regards to communicable diseases. I can't go back to work until it has been 7 days since first exposure (in this case....Saturday would be the soonest), or, I have to be taking Tamiflu. I called both my oncologist and my regular doctor today. Neither of them were in any rush to help me out. Hopefully, I can get one of them to call in a prescription tomorrow and then I won't have to miss any work.

We are in pseudo quarantine here. No one has actually told us we can't leave the house, but if germs are cooking in the girls or Dan and I....I don't really want to be spreading "the love" all around town. I've been using hand sanitizer likes in going out of style and spraying Lysol everywhere. I scoured the bathroom this morning with bleach. Hopefully, this virus will not linger in the Widener household.

Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming.

No, I'm not kidding!

What a weekend! I'm so glad to have Nathan home! I missed that little guy! We got a call from him early on Friday morning to let us know that they would not be back in Jacksonville until approximately 9:00pm (they were due back at 8pm). I arrived at the church parking lot around 7:30pm....just on the off chance they were on time. I didn't want him to come home and find us not there! Once there, we got word through one of the other parents that they were going to be about 3 hours late...arriving about 10:30 or 11:00. Sigh...hurry up and wait some more!

Many parents just stood around the parking lot chatting. I found out that the girls camp (held the week before in Central Florida) had about 7 confirmed cases of swine flu! Lovely! The only common denominator that the boys camp had with the girls camp was the two priests. I just hoped they had washed their hands!

Finally, one van showed up as well as the trailer with all the kids' stuff. They began unloading great big black garbage bags full of stuff. Apparently, it rained pretty much the entire time they were there and everything was wet. Luckily, I found Nathan's stuff pretty quickly....his was not in a plastic bag. Can I just say that the smell that was coming from those bags was, well, gross!

Nathan was in the third van that showed up! He ran to me and said, "Hi, Momma! Guess what.....I threw up five times on the 4th day!" After hugging and kissing him, I realized that HE WAS IN THE SAME CLOTHES THAT HE HAD ON THE DAY I DROPPED HIM OFF!! I asked him if he had brushed his teeth at all......nope!

When we got home, I had to peel off his clothes. I scrubbed him down good and washed his hair several times. I'm not sure his finger/toe nails will ever be clean again. I emptied out his pack and sure enough, there were all of his other clothes still folded neatly. I asked him why he didn't at least change his shirt. His answer......he couldn't find one! Now, mind you, I sent him a pair of shorts and a shirt for EVERYDAY. He obviously didn't look for it.

He had about 6 blisters all over his feet. This would be from hiking in shoes with NO SOCKS! Again, I sent him socks for everyday. Apparently, he didn't find those or the underwear either.

He lost three items....his hat, his jacket and a pair of shorts.

They had an encounter with a bear. No one actually saw him but woke up one morning to find several packs missing and several ripped apart. Nathan's fanny pack has claw marks all over it.

This makes for great stories though!

In spite of the bear, vomiting and the hiking blisters, he seemed to have a great time. He met some wonderful friends and made the commitment to become an "Apprentice" within the Home of the Mother Youth. He has said his prayers faithfully everyday since he's been home.

On Saturday night, he mentioned that his throat hurt. I tried to ignore it but by Sunday morning, I took his temp....101. I gave him some Motrin and by that evening, his temp was still 101. By this morning, it was 102.5. So, at 9am we were on the way to the pediatrician. After a nasal swab test was done, it was confirmed....Nathan has SWINE FLU! He is miserable. He has a sore throat, achy all over, fever and chills. We were advised to treat it like the regular flu....plenty of fluids and treat the symptoms.

Gotta love summer camp! School starts on the 17th....let's hope we're all better by then. I'll share some of the cute stories he told me in another post. For now, here are some pictures.

This is what I found in his pants pockets.....Fr. Henry's card, holy card and the prayers for the Home of the Mother Youth. Thankfully, no bugs (or anything gross).

While you can't tell from this picture....this shirt used to be white. The bottom part is now a dingy beige color. I will attempt to wash it.....but I doubt it will make it.

Blistered feet.


Clean and reunited with two sisters that missed him!