FAMILY

I sit in a quiet house, and I’m not really sure how I feel about that!  My introverted self usually embraces quiet, craves it, really.  But the last 3 weeks I have been around those I hold most dear, my 3 girls and husband, pretty much 24/7!  We had a wonderful, 2 week family vacation to Orlando Disney, but brought Influenza A back with us, so we have spent the last week together in this house trying to get healthy.  We have had lots of sweet time together, which makes being alone feel strange.

It has been a really long time since I have had sick kids.  They used to be sick ALL THE TIME, but changing our eating habits and taking supplements have really kept them out of the Doctors office for years.  They have had a cold here or there, but it was gone quickly and they would barely skip a beat.  Our last 3 days at Disney, we ate a whole bunch of junk & I got out of the habit of making them take supplements, AND we all shared a water bottle each day at the park.  Enter Influenza A.

Influenza A = a very humbled Amy.

My word, this sickness hit us HARD and fast.  High fevers for 4 days is just miserable in itself, but add body aches, sore throats & THE COUGHING!  I had to laugh at times listening to the sounds of my home–duets, trios and quartets of coughs.  It was nuts!

I have to admit that I was pretty surprised my immune system didn’t kick in faster.  It made me realize I can rely too much on doing what I think is important to stay healthy instead of putting my faith in God to keep us healthy.  It also reminded me that yes, I am a home remedy girl, but I believe there is a time and place for medication.

I was going on day 5 of high fever, and Doctor decided prescribe Tamiflu for me since I am high risk of complications due to radiation to my chest area.  My fever broke just a few hours after taking my first Tamiflu, and I felt so much better once I was on that medication.  It was such relief.  Honestly, I felt like Influenza was laughing at my herbal tea efforts…it didn’t make me feel better at all.  Echinecea tea is great for colds, I’m sipping on it right now for a secondary sinus infection, but Influenza is a whole different ballgame.

Another example of medicine being necessary was for my Lil One.  She was the first with symptoms, poor thing had to fly home with a fever of 103.  Anytime she gets a cold or allergy, she immediately struggles with asthma.  She had RSV as a baby and has always struggled with breathing when sick.  She came out of the influenza quite well, 4 days and she was doing good, except for a lingering cough.  It was an asthmatic cough, deep and constant.  It made no sense that this cough was so bad when her fever had been gone a few days, so I took her back to the Doctor, and we found out she had an pretty nasty ear infection!  This is what was causing drainage which was triggering her asthmatic cough.  I agreed, reluctantly, to antibiotics…and I am so glad I did.  My baby had relief within 24 hours of taking them.  Her cough stopped, she slept through the night, and was able to go to school today.

{pause} I know I have readers that would be horrified that I gave my child antibiotics.  I also know I have readers that would be horrified if I didn’t!  Just know I am grateful for ALL my readers and look forward to the comments on this post. {unpause}

So, I believe there is a place for medication.  I am extremely thankful for our Doctors, nurses & their expertise.  I also believe there is a place for alternative ways to treat illness, which I am using now (and will write more about in a future post) for a secondary sinus infection that I have developed.  I have a Doctor appointment tomorrow and will have her prescribe some antibiotics just in case, but I have a feeling that I won’t need that prescription. I am quite convinced that I am killing this infection with some awesome home remedies.  I don’t want to speak too soon, but there are some things that I am doing that seem to be working! We shall see…and I shall share, soon!

I saved the best for last.

The Flu Shot.

Quite controversial.  

I had (and still might have) a belief that high enough levels of Vitamin D in our bodies are just as protective as a Flu vaccine, and safer.  Because of this belief, we have not had flu shots in over 5 years, and we have never had the flu, until now.  But, we also got the flu it when our Vitamin D levels were low, due to not supplementing while on vacation.

I have to be honest with you and tell you, I have no idea if we will be getting the flu vaccine next year or not.  I DO know I never want Influenza A again, or to watch my kids suffer through it.  I will also say, that a couple other things made me pause and reconsider my beliefs.

Our kids had to wear masks in the Doctors office after we were diagnosed.  The nurse who came in also had one on.  When the Doctor came in, she did not, AND she didn’t flinch when fact to face with my girls examining them, and they were coughing all over her (masks were off.)  I said she was brave, and she looked at me and said…”oh no worries, I have had the flu vaccine.”  Here is a lady who has been a Doctor for years, who is around Influenza, the beast, all the time, and was not worried a bit.  Made me pause.

Another thing that made me rethink my stance was a comment from a reader.  She said she worked in the medical community for 15 years, got the flu shot every year, and has never had the flu.  One more example– my Mother-in-Law gets the shot every year and has never had the flu.

So, what are your thoughts?  I am eager to hear your opinions in the comment section. Do you get the flu shot?  Have you heard flu shot controversy?

 I know we will have diverse opinions, because New Nostalgia’s readership is quite diverse, so let’s all be respectful and learn from one another.