Infectious Autumn

I think I'm a little better today. I'm actually sitting up (well, reclining in a lounge chair) and am outside on the deck. It's a beautiful fall day. I feel like I've missed the whole month of October, which happens to be one of my favorites!

Unfortunately, both of my sons are home sick today. I did manage to take them both to the doctor's office and pharmacy, so that was a big achievement for me! It's a lot harder to rest with them home, though. We need more couches.

Craig has bronchitis and started on antibiotics. Jamie sounded like he was heading to bronchitis yesterday, but his congestion actually got much better overnight, so he has a prescription to hang onto just in case. I think maybe that revved-up immune system did him some good and he plowed through whatever this virus is in just a few days. He's still feeling wiped out, but that could just be CFS.

As I've said many times before here, I am hugely grateful for our wonderful pediatrician (see A Doctor Who Gets It...Priceless). I told her about the latest news linking CFS with the XMRV retrovirus, and she was very excited. She said she's seen two teen girls recently (I think they're the two we sent to her!) who have very severe OI but don't exactly meet the criteria for CFS, and she'd love to have a diagnostic test available to help.

The doctor said she can't remember a season as bad as this one for viruses - not just H1N1 (though there's already lots of that around here), but all sorts of infections. Craig said 37 of the 100 6th graders at his school were absent on Wednesday, and the school nurse at Jamie's high school says she's sending home 20 students every day with high fevers (and those are just the ones who go to the nurse's office!). My kids have done remarkably well so far. We're now considering whether Craig should get the H1N1 vaccine when it's available. His immune system is actually much closer to normal than mine or Jamie's, and he does sometimes catch viruses. I shared Dr. Lapp's advice with our pediatrician, but she's not exactly sure what to do either. It's a tough call.

I'm hoping my heavy doses of doxycycline for Lyme will protect me from the bronchitis. Well, that's probably enough computer time for today - I'm going through major withdrawal! I must be doing a little better because I've progressed to feeling a bit restless and unproductive. That's a step up from just feeling too sick to care!