Remember at some point this past spring, when I gladly reported about such a healthy year for our family? Yeah. This year shall not be last year, that's clear right now.
The kids:
It started with two bouts of croup so far this fall/winter, but thankfully those were blessedly weak and did not require hospital visits, and only one required a Dr visit.
Then it moved on a month ago to each of them getting a 24-hour-or-less stomach bug. Finn only threw up once or twice, but for Layla and Cora they were throwing up all day long. I want to give a shout-out to big kids throwing up...because both Finn and Layla made it to toilets or buckets each and every time. It's almost like a Christmas miracle! Not one load of laundry needed to be done due to their illnesses! Hooray for the perks of growing up.
Now we have moved on to communicable diseases...haha. The woman who used to live with us called me on Monday to let me know that she had been diagnoses with Pertussis, likely contracted from her son (daycare?). Cora had a bad cough for 5 days or so up until that point, and was being incredibly manic in her behavior, so I brought her in to do the nose swab test for Pertussis. When her Dr looked at Cora, she didn't think she had Pertussis at all, but she sent in antibiotic prescriptions for all 3 kids, and we would wait to use them only if the test came back positive. Meanwhile we had many people invited over for dinner, and we had to cancel 3 of those because we didn't know the test results. It's a good thing we did, too, because it came back that she has Parapertussis. It's a milder form of Pertussis that the vaccine does not cover (which is why all these people who are fully vaccinated for it are still getting in), so it's unlikely that the disease is going to put anyone in the hospital...which is good for sure. We're there enough already!
So now all 3 kids are on daily doses of antibiotics for 5 days. They aren't considered non-contagious until the end of day 5, because of how easily this parapertussis is spread. Day 5 is Christmas day! We're cutting it veeeeeeeery close over here. :/
Me:
This year seems to be the year that my health is failing in weird ways. Age 36: the year I started to do downhill fast. :)
I have been having breathing issues since early spring, and we've finally gotten them under control after several different medication tries, BUT we still don't know for sure what caused it, and that's is what bothers me most. My Dr thinks I developed a new, strong allergy to something outdoors this spring, and that started the problem off. Who knows? I sure wish I did more.
Then I've had right foot issues (for which I've scheduled a visit with the "foot doctor", as Cora calls him) and left shoulder issues (for which I'm going to schedule a visit to my chiro, and maybe a physical therapist as well. Someone mentioned left rotator cuff, which I don't like the sound of). I've even had weird things happen with my teeth, for crying out loud! I feel OLD, man! OLD!
Jonas:
Jonas, so far, has escaped with only one minor incident: a bout with the 24-hour stomach bug, which I mercifully escaped. As I have now mentioned this fact to the universe, it's likely he will come down with the plague or something, but so far he has been doing far better than the rest of us!
