Thursday, February 3, 2011

Getting through RSV and more

Seven-month-old Arley
My seven-month-old daughter is running fever and just isn't feeling well, so I take her to the doctor. To my surprise, in addition to the fever, she's got RSV, an ear infection in one ear, fluid in the other ear, and the thrush I thought we'd already treated was worse!

Boy did I feel like a bad, sad, overwhelmed mommy.

How can her sweet little 17-lb body handle all that! And how did she get so many ailments in 11 days?! (I'd taken her to the doctor almost two weeks prior and she was in pretty good shape.)

I'd heard of RSV, but had no idea what it was. Turns out it's similar to an upper respiratory infection, but can be very serious when caught by an infant. Scary, I know. Thank God she didn't have the wheezing that commonly accompanies this virus! For more facts about RSV, click here.

After almost a week of feeling terrible, Arley pulled through. I know five days of sudden, extreme illness is nothing, but it sure felt like forever. I'm so grateful she's doing better, and we are all washing our hands even more frequently. (...Which I didn't think was possible. I mean, Hello, I'm in health care and my husband is a teacher. We practically live on hand sanitizer!)

To add to that, her big brother has been battling ear infections and a stuffy/runny nose for months, so on Friday he's going to have surgery to get new tubes in his ears and an adnoidectomy. We are very hopeful it will help him feel and breathe better! My poor little guy...

And did I mention that while caring for Arley, I got sick? And that my husband has crazy bad allergies that just won't quit? We sound like a fun bunch, I know. But surely there are other families out there whose kids are in day care and are experiencing a similar situation... Right?

And it gets better the older the kids get, right????

In the meantime...Lysol anyone?

Mandy Forbus is a Senior Marketing Specialist for Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst Euless Bedford and mom to two little troopers.

2 comments:

  1. Poor babies, and poor Mommy and Daddy! All three of mine are in day care, and yes, it gets better as they get older. We do lots of hand washing around here, and my boys (and the dog) complain when I pull out the lysol, but I still do it! Hope everyone is feeling better at your house soon!

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  2. My five actually aren't in daycare, but two are in school and one in a two-day-a-week program. For the last week my youngest two had Roseola (a crazy little virus with very high fevers) the third had a stomach virus and the older two another completely different virus -- all at the same time. We are vigilant about washing hands and such but sometimes I think there simply isn't anything you can do.

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