I’m sorry, I know this has absolutely nothing to do with baby names, but nameberry has no where to just vent! (i think I’ll suggest that to them)
I live in a suburb outside of Chicago, IL, but within the same county that Chicago is in (Cook). Chicago is offering the H1N1 vaccine to ONLY their residents. ALL of the neighboring counties (and there are atleast 5) are offering the vac to ONLY their residents. But Cook county is not offering the vac at all (they say soon, but apparently its not soon enough)! So where am I supposed to go to get the vaccine???
I’m sorry to bother you all with this, I just needed to vent!
*[name]EDIT[/name] - is anyone else freaking out about the H1N1 virus, too?
I wouldn’t worry; it is unlikely to get too serious. It would certainly have to mutate a lot from the vein I contracted at the start of the scare to do any real damage - I was supposedly vulnerable to it as I was pregnant, but it was not worse than ordinary flu, and passed without medicine in a week.
holy cow twinkle! you actually had H1N1?!?! i heard that so many children are dying from it - and a good amount of pregnant women, too. my son has sever asthma, especially in the winter, so it really worries me. part of me thinks that it’s not so bad, but then there’s the part of me that is freaking out about it.
Yes, I did, and it was fine. But then again, I’m pretty hardy - I know several people who had it, but I was the only one who was pregnant. No-one died here in [name]England[/name], except a teenage girl who had underlying health problems.
I see why you’re worried about your son - my advice would simply be to wrap him up warm, avoid very crowded places as best as possible, invest in some hand sanitiser to use after touching doorhandles etc. in public areas, and, should there be a breakout, keep him home from school.
I’m in [name]St[/name]. [name]Louis[/name] and the vaccine isn’t here yet, either. Apparently there is some sort of nasal spray thing, but that isn’t available for everyone either. But, the swine flu is not something to be worried about - it is just like the regular flu, but people are freaking out because it is more contagious. If you get it, you aren’t going to die. [name]Just[/name] isolate yourself for a few days, get rest, and you’ll be fine - just like normal flu! [name]Don[/name]'t stress too much. [name]Wash[/name] your hands a lot, avoid rubbing your eyes if your hands aren’t clean, cough and sneeze into your shoulder and wash your hands after sneezing or blowing your nose. You’ll be fine!
As with every scare - you don’t know who to believe. Some doctors say it’ll be fine and its not that bad. Others are saying we’re going to lose a lot of people to this. Like I said the main thing I’m worried about is my son. In the winter, when he gets a cold or the flu, his asthma really kicks in bad. He has the asthma attack 3-4 days straight! The only thing that helps him is the steroid to open his lungs up.
I guess all I can do is wait til the vac becomes available to us and then we’ll get it then - though some people are saying not to get it.
You are right. Kids with asthma are at a high risk with any flu, so H1N1 is no different. H1N1 can increase the severity of asthma symptoms, so I would talk to your son’s pediatrician about if and when the vaccine will be available. If it is available, you should definitely get him vaccinated, because the flu symptoms will only further damage his already compromised lungs. But, until then, hang in there with hand sanitizer, good hygiene, and other typical sickness prevention strategies.
You are right. Kids with asthma are at a high risk with any flu, so H1N1 is no different. H1N1 can increase the severity of asthma symptoms, so I would talk to your son’s pediatrician about if and when the vaccine will be available. If it is available, you should definitely get him vaccinated, because the flu symptoms will only further damage his already compromised lungs. But, until then, hang in there with hand sanitizer, good hygiene, and other typical sickness prevention strategies.[/quote]
Thanks!
The other bad thing is he’s allergic to eggs - so I can’t just take him to the health dept whenever they get it. I have to wait for the allergist’s office to get the vaccines - they have to give it to him and watch him for a couple hours! … something about desensitizing him. It’s a headache!
I received an email a few days ago with some information on how to try and “prevent” getting H1N1. It was backed up by a doctor, and a lady I work with has a sister that’s a nurse and said this is true. So I’ll just paste the info below Stay safe, everyone!
Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).
“Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).
*Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. [name]Don[/name]'t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at [name]Jala[/name] [name]Neti[/name] or Sutra [name]Neti[/name] (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.
*Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has [name]Zinc[/name] to boost absorption.
*Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.
I understand why you are concerned and I probably would be in your position too. But you should know that no more people have died of Swine flu than any other regular influenza strain. People die from the flu every year but we don”t hear about each single case on the news. Most people who die have underlying health conditions. My [name]SIL[/name] got it and she”s fine, and at a local school 15 children got it but all were fine. Only about 5 people have died in my state (NSW, Australia). I feel that the whole Swine flu thing is mostly a public hysteria/ media beat up. Being pregnant does mean that you are at higher risk, but I personally would be more concerned with getting a vaccine during pregnancy (but I”m not sure how this all works and I”m not judging because I don”t know about the risks/benefits). With your son having asthma it would probably be a good idea to get him vaccinated when you can. If he gets the flu shot and you feel it helps him then you should do the same with the H1N1 vaccine. Obviously prevention is the best medicine and ricamaca posted some great tips.
As for your health system ” I know some people are afraid of socialized medicine, but I am comforted by the fact that if I get sick the thought ”oh crap how much is this going to cost me” never goes through my mind. If you were here you could walk into any medical centre and get it done for free. I have Cushing”s so I”m on pretty strong pain meds, my pharmacist broke it too me that my new medicine was going to cost more, at gasp, $7.50 a fortnight. So I got the $5.50 generic brand. I could not afford to be disabled and a student in the US. Anyway, sorry to digress. I feel for you, and I hope that you remain healthy and if you still want the vaccine, that it soon becomes available to you. Best of luck.
Well, I would be as frustrated and concerned as you are! While many have not had a bad time with the H1N1, others certainly have. Have said it is the worst sickness they ever had – I’ve read this from pregnant women as well as some health adults who were otherwise healthy. And quite a few kids in my state have died, and died quickly. They don’t tell us though what underlying conditions these kids had, but that most had one. So, your son’s asthma is certainly a big concern. My four year old has asthma as well, but we were able to get our kids the shots (he’s not allergic to eggs fortunately) two weeks ago at a school based clinic. I am pregnant and had to call the state health department to get information on how I could get it – and I got it the next day at the county health department. You may have already done this but I would call your state’s health department, and at the very least COMPLAIN that your county is not getting its fair share of vaccine! It might not change much, but at least you got your say in – and hopefully, more vaccine will become available really soon and your whole family can get it.
I have found some ways to stay healthy even though I used to have really bad asthma.
Something that helps me tremendously is that I go to a Classical Homeopath. I used to have asthma, but she got rid of it. My asthma was really bad, and I used to get lots of sinus infections and bronchitis. I never have to use my inhaler or any steroids. I never take any medicine except when I was having a problem with my eye two years ago. My homeopath knows of other Classical Homeopaths all over the county and in [name]England[/name]. If anyone is interested, I could get you the name of one near you. But sometimes they are very expensive. My sister went to my Classical Homeopath for a while, but now she hates her. This happens with my sister a lot. I’m going to come back and erase this part in a day or two! But she now loves this alternative doctor who gives her fish oil and evening primrose oil. My sister has or I guess I should say had really bad Insomnia and the alternative doctor got rid of the Insomnia. The Classical Homeopath got rid of my sister’s asthma.
Another thing we do when we’re sick is we take apple cider vinegar. Vinegar is a great cleanser and it seems to help us get better if we get a cold or the flu. Simply add a couple of teaspoons or even one teaspoon to some hot herb or other kind of hot tea. You can even gargle with it if the tea isn’t too hot. Then (sorry kind of gross) swallow the gargle.
I also love this tea called Throat Coat tea. It comes in a box. I’ve seen it at the market and at the drug store. If you’re on Classical Homeopathy, you can’t drink it. You also can’t drink coffee or have mint or caffeinated tea. But if you’re not on homeopathy, it’s a great way to get rid of sore throats, coughs, and even bronchitis.
Because I am on Homeopathy, I am not worried about getting swine flu. But I am very nervous about my kids because they refuse to go to the homeopath anymore. My daughter is taking medicine for her acne which would cause the homeopathy not to work. The Homeopath said something rude to my son about his then-girlfriend, so now he doesn’t like the Homeopath. Frankly our Homeopath has the personality of a toad, but she does keep me well so I really appreciate that! My son is sick right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has swine flu. I will get a frantic call and then I will have to take him to the doctor.
