Sick of All the Sicknesses

I am so tired of everyone being sick. We usually don’t get sick often. I go to my annual visit like I am supposed to and get my mammogram just because I am supposed to, but I rarely get sick. I don’t go to the doctor unless I just have to. I got the chicken pox when I was 40, so I had to go to the doctor to get diagnosed for work. It had been 4 years since I had been to my general practice doctor at that time. I don’t think I have been back to him since then for me. I have taken my kids in a few times for check-ups and shots so it all kind of blends together.

This fall I went through a spell where I was getting sick every few weeks, kind of like a stomach virus or food poisoning, but it was usually over by noon and I was good to go again. I never really figured out what caused it, but I got sick again the day after Christmas and this time it lasted about 2 days and I haven’t been sick again.

My oldest son got sick a couple of days after I got better, but his was more of a head cold.  He didn’t rest and take care of himself because he was too busy.  It turned bad a few days later and he ended up missing almost a whole week of work. Since he wouldn’t go to the doctor, we don’t know for sure, but I would say he had the flu. I took him a bag of medicine and food since he had nothing in his apartment and didn’t feel like going to get anything for several days.

My daughter has also been sick several times over the last few months. She has already missed several days of school this semester. I took her to the doctor last week because her stomach kept hurting.  She had a raging urinary tract infection, but she also ended up with a cold/flu kind of sickness too.  She hurt all over, but didn’t have a fever and it was mainly head congestion which caused her to cough constantly as it irritated her throat.  It only lasted a few days.  She finally is feeling better and has went to school everyday this week so far, so I thought we were in the clear.

Not to be so, this morning when I went to wake her up for school, I noticed my 17 year old son was still in bed. So now he is sick. He has asthma so we are used to anytime he gets a cold, it goes into his chest quickly so we start treating it at first sign. He rarely misses school, but this isn’t his normal cold induced asthma problem. He is nauseous and afraid to eat since he has been sick several time during the night and this morning. He is now also hurting all over so I am praying it is not the flu.

A lot of friends and family have already had the flu this year, some have even had more than one type of the flu so they have been sick on and off for a long time. Others have been hospitalized, and thankfully no one I know has died, but people are dying from the flu this year.  Here in Arkansas, 140 influenza-related deaths have been reported.  It is just plain scary, I hate it.  I feel like we are put at risk every time we leave the house, which we are, but not only that, we are at risk every time someone comes home. I wash my hands all the time and I avoid touching doors or hand rails if I am able to. As soon as we get home, we wash our hands and tell the kids to wash theirs. I know that is the best physical thing we can do to avoid getting sick, that along with prayer is about all we have. Everyone take care of yourself, wash your hands and stay home if you are sick.  In this case, sharing is bad!

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