H1N1 at my house. | Arthritis Information

Well actually at my sisters house. I just happened to have been watching the baby when the nephews fell ill. So I just kept her of course. I do not no if it will do any good but I hope she does not get it.

I new it was coming. Well it was already here. On the news they talked of school closings a three hour drive from here. The school was closed because 85 students were out ill.

That is nothing compared to what was going on here behind our noses. The school called Tuesday and asked that all children sick or that had been sick be kept home because 200 children in the elementary school were out ill. By Wednesday night the nephews had it. Wow my community has taken a hard hit.

So far my seven year old nephew has been hit the hardest. They put him on tamiflu and he is showing some improvement. He was just miserable. Even with tylonol and advil combined he was having terrible chills all day yesterday. He said his legs were freezing and felt like they would break into one million pieces. He was in tears many times the past two days but appears to be living threw this.

One of the nieghbor girls tested positive and her sister tested negative. Also a girl across the street first tested negative and then tested positive. So it is starting to show positve now. I had read that some places are only getting negative results. They did not actually test my nephews. At this point they have seen enough of the H1N1 to know what it is.

I am just keeping a close eye on everyone else. It will be a true miracle if the rest of the family does not fall out with this. I hope that having the baby for twenty four hours before her brothers got this will keep her well. She is up from her nap so I will check back in a day or two if I get time. LOL Just have been a little busy lately.

milly2009-11-07 13:04:17I called the health department and they are out of the adult H1N1 vaccines as well as the seasonal flu vaccines. My Mom is out of luck for now. We hope that she has some immunity to the H1N1. Time will tell. They are having a walk in clinic for the kids on the 17th of the month. So a bit late for most. I hope they have plenty of tamiflu.

So glad I went out of town to get my vaccines a few weeks ago.

I hope everyone recovers quickly! It is hard to control when it starts spreading through a school. My daughter is a teacher of 7th and 8th graders at the middle school in Florida. She says so far there has not been any problem with flu in her district. I am sort of ticked at her because she did not get her flu shot and as a mother herself I think she owes it to herself and family to get one. So when I go to Florida for a visit this Thanksgiving it will be my mission to seek out a flu shot and make her go!...I try to remember being 24 and how you thought nothing ever would happen to you...but I am a mom...and a mom will be a mom no matter what age her children are.
Take care Milly and stay healthy.

Best Wishes,
Lisa

It has hit hard here too, We live in small town of about 9000 and 2 have died with it, a 47 year old woman and a 34 year old man. both were treated for pheumonia in hospital and sent home after few days and was back in hospital and died within days of hini flu. there is so many that they have a floor of the hospital shut off for people with it. They have limited visitors, allowed anywhere in hospital. schools have been open and shut a few times. I was lucky enough to get a shot, my husband can't get 1. I'm high risk. A 5 year old about 60 miles from here also die.

Take care of yourself and the little one. try to stay healthy

[QUOTE=milly]I called the health department and they are out of the adult H1N1 vaccines as well as the seasonal flu vaccines. My Mom is out of luck for now. We hope that she has some immunity to the H1N1. Time will tell. They are having a walk in clinic for the kids on the 17th of the month. So a bit late for most. I hope they have plenty of tamiflu.

An elderly friend of mine drove about 100 miles south and stood in line at an H1N1 clinic....they ran out. As she said, "I don't know which is worse: having H1N1 or exhausting myself standing in long lines and exposing myself to strangers."

Sam12342009-11-08 11:38:41I'm also hoping that I'm one of those age 60+ with immunity to H1N1. The vaccine isn't available in our rural area.

Milly, I hope that the H1N1 passes you by. Try and rest as much as you can, even though you're keeping the children.

Lindy

Milly, I just read your post saying that you got the vaccine, guess I should have read all of the posts before I posted. That's a forum hazard!! LindyBumping in hopes of hearing from Milly - I sure hope all is well and I am thinking of you!

[QUOTE=LinB]I'm also hoping that I'm one of those age 60+ with immunity to H1N1. The vaccine isn't available in our rural area.[/QUOTE]
Nor in our rural area. I am especially concerned for my Bob as he is the shopper, the errand runner, and the go-fer at our house.

I am quite sure our PMD is beyond exasperated with me...I have called his office every day for nearly a month inquiring about the vaccine. I am relatively certain that I was exposed last century, but my Bob's immunity to H1N1 is questionable as he was living as a recluse, a monk, a hermit during the last pandemic.

It truly is always something to be worried about.
I just checked the website for the county health office in the county in which I live and noticed that they are only giving out H1N1 shots to pregnant women ONLY and by appointment.

Also, they've stopped tracking the H1N1 cases in the hospital unless the patient is in the ICU or died in the hospital.

You know, if I had elective surgery, or a surgery I could postpone, I would......until the H1N1 winds down. Why go into a hospital for non-emergency surgery or tests and run the risk of being exposed to H1N1 and dying there?

Sam12342009-11-10 14:41:24[QUOTE=Sam1234]I just checked the website for the county health office in the county in which I live and noticed that they are only giving out H1N1 shots to pregnant women ONLY and by appointment.

Also, they've stopped tracking the H1N1 cases in the hospital unless the patient is in the ICU or died in the hospital.

[/QUOTE]

I hear ya!! I had to go to the hospital lab for a blood draw and then to my primary care's office for a checkup on the URI I contacted. I waited outside his office until my appt. time. Too many people in the waiting room. I must have used my hand cleaner a dozen times. I'm over 60 and probably have been exposed but why take chances? Not worth it. So far in my area only pregnant women, some school age children and the military staff at the Naval air station are receiving the vaccine at the moment. Lindy

It is the same here Lindy. Pregnant women and babies. I would like to know how and why some health officials deemed hockey players more important than pregnant women and babies. Thankfully they got fired but that is still vaccine that is not available for those that really need it. HOCKEY PLAYERS!!!!!!!! I missed that little piece of news. Lindy[/QUOTE]

Isn't that something. The pro team in Calgary, Alberta and minor teams in B.C. and Alberta were given the shots for sure and there was some scuttle about the pro team in Toronto. Not sure on that one though.

I'm calling my doctor tomorrow and having her call an Rx for Tamiflu into the pharmacy so I can have it on hand if it hits me.

I'm still unsure if I'll get the H1N1 vaccine once it is available. I've got asthma and Type II diabetes, and I know I really should get the H1N1 vaccine, but I had such a horrible reaction to Tdap a couple years ago.........took over three months on Lasix to clear it up. Talk about "an elephant in the living room," my legs were so edemic that they looked like an elephant's!

I had my doc write a script for Tamiflu and I have it ready if needed. Not sure that I'd venture into the H1N1 vaccine territory if I'd had such a reaction to Tdap!! What does your doctor say? LindyLindy,

Re the severe Tdap reaction: the internist who gave the Tdap vaccine to me in my upper arm said my reaction in the legs couldn't possibly be associated with the Tdap. [I fired him.]

That was on January 31, 2008. [Funny how you remember those dates.] My GFR [Glomerular Filtration Rate - kidneys] shot up, as did my CRP. Both stayed elevated until I got on the Lasix. It took over a month to flush it all out.

In the fall of 2008 I decided my system had been through enough for the prior 6 months and opted to NOT get the regular flu shot that year. [I've never had a reaction to regular flu shots, but I decided to rely on my gut feeling.]

I DID get the regular flu shot a couple months ago.

What's interesting is that I contacted the FDA about the Tdap and they, too, said that this kind of reaction was HIGHLY unlikely from the Tdap vaccine AND that they did not have an adverse effect report on file that matched my symptomology. I'd had Td boosters in the past with no reaction, so I'm pretty sold that it was the "ap" [accelular pertussis] component of the Tdap that is the culprit.

Sideline: I managed to develop a hiatal hernia and wanted to check it out before I underwent out-patient orthopedic surgery. Ironically, the GI-specialist had had a routine flu shot 3 years prior and came down with Guillain-Barre. He is just now walking a few steps without crutches after three years. He told me that his initial reactions [severe edema in the legs] were similar to mine.

I discussed this with my RD, too, and he said he never heard of such a reaction to Tdap.

My endocrinologist was the only one to pay attention and got me on the Lasix to flush it out of me. I've got pictures of my legs and believe me, I hardly looked like a Radio City Rockette!

In any case, what's going through my mind is that since some people came down with GBS with an H1N1-like vaccine back in the 70's, and since I may have been on the road to early-stage GBS, I'm not super hot on getting the H1N1. Lucklily, I'm in my early 60's and I'm counting on having picked up some immunity over the years. [fingers crossed.]

Sam12342009-11-11 13:34:29I hadn't heard about the hockey players.......but I heard something [a week ago?] on the news about a financial corporation on Wall St. that bought a bunch of the vaccine for its employees.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/mary-kate-cary/2009/11/06/wall-streets-swine-flu-vaccine-score-shows-the-perils-of-government-healthcare.html

In all fairness, I can almost appreciate the need for the vaccine. Those business are in ultra-high-rise buildings and everyone is squished into the elevators like sardines......ergo, real contamination. Surely a couple people on each elevator cycle is in close contact with a pregnant woman........

Sam12342009-11-11 13:42:23http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2009/db2009115_844446.htm

"City officials, who are responsible for placing orders of the vaccine with the CDC, have stressed that distributions to workplaces are in line with normal procedures, part of a deliberate attempt to mitigate illness in as widespread a manner as possible."
So far we are all doing well. I have been very busy with the baby. The doctor called us in some Tamiflu Monday. So all that the baby and myself had was a stuffy nose and a bit of a cough. Maybe it is over kill for me to take Tamiflu when I already had a vaccine but the doc put me on it anyway. Expensive stuff. Mom has a bit of a cough today so I am keeping an eye on her.

Well I am trying to catch up on these post. Sorry I have not checked in with you all lately but taking care of a twelve month old is a lot of work. I fell asleep on the chair last night and woke up with a stiff neck. I am so paranoid. I thought wow I must have menningitis, then woke up and laughed because no wonder my neck hurt.

LOL My Dad thinks that potato soup cures all illness. It is my favorite so I made some just keep dear old Dad happy. I ate too much. LOL I should be illness free from everything for a long time. [QUOTE=milly]LOL My Dad thinks that potato soup cures all illness. It is my favorite so I made some just keep dear old Dad happy. I ate too much. LOL I should be illness free from everything for a long time. [/QUOTE]

For my dad, it's chicken and noodles (very thick, more like stew than soup) served over mashed potatoes. Kinda like chicken-potato "soup." We called my Aunt to let her know about the kids. She has a son on chemotherapy and watches his young one often as the parents are out of town at the cancer center. She said the newspaper said we had no H1N1 in the area. Of course they had to lifeline a seven year old out to a city hospital. They have not closed any of the schools down. I guess alot of parents are wanting the schools closed down. Someone told me that a teacher said that the majority of the illnesses were caused by the seasonal flu. HMMMMMMMM?

I suppose but I had not heard of the seasonal flu being in the area until I heard that statement. I do know that all of the children on the school bus that ride with my nephews and niece had H1N1. I know of one clinic that is not treating H1N1 unless people test positive. Those are probably the ones getting the sickest. Also one of my sisters nieghbors went to the clinic and tested negative and then later tested positive at the hospital. She was one of the first kids on the school bus to become ill.

Seems like they are trying to keep this a secret. I have no idea why? At least the hospital and my gp's office are on board. I do know that strep and bronchitis were also going around before the H1N1 hit town so I am sure not all of the absences were because of the swineflu. I just wish the clinic had a better attitude and of course I believe the newspaper should be more honest because people need to know to go to the doctor if they or there children become ill.