What a mess!!!!! He has been sick since last Monday night. Not horribly sick but definitely an influenza type illness. I just talked to the on call doc who said they have been seeing lots of H1N1 so he's going in tomorrow. His ear has been aching. Wednesday (I know, weird day) my other son is getting married!!! I think he has had this already because I know he was sick a few weeks ago. I'm just hoping the birde stays well. And I've been worried about me catching it too. If I do start getting it they will give me an antiviral. Please say a prayer! The wedding ceremony is outside so I've been worried about either hot, humid or stormy weather. Never thought I'd be worrying about swine flu! lol

Kathy
For an earache my daughters doctor recommended nose drops (saline type) in her nose. While this sounds stupid this works remarkably well. The eyes, ears,nose and throat are all connected and after you put the drops in his NOSE he should lay down a few minutes in order for this to work.
Congrats to the newlyweds to be and hope no one has the swine flu and that you sick child gets better in a hurry. Keep us informed.

Hopefully it is not H1N1. My sister was just talking to a doctor about H1N1. Her observation was that most people know pretty quickly that they have the flu from all the body aches and pains that start. She said as soon as you start feeling that way you should immediately go to the doctor. The sooner they can can start Tamaflu the better.

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Kevin researched influenza and said there are three strains circulating now. They are variants of the same type. I'm sure he has one of them. I've had influenza (both Type A and B) and my kids have had influenza before too so I recognize it. Actually since he's headed off to college across the country in two weeks I hope it IS H1N1 so I don't have to worry about him getting it out there! lol I'll keep ya posted.

We had a big breakout of the Swine a couple of months ago (New York City) - some schools were closed because of it.

I hope your son starts to feel better.

Congrats to your other son on his marriage

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Hope he's better soon and no one else gets sick.

My mom remarried when I was 7 yrs old. I came down with the chicken pox the night before her wedding.

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Oh that's too bad!!!

Oh my! You guys must be stressing........with a wedding and all, and a the flu, ugh! I hope your son just had the regular flu, please keep us updated and keep him hydrated. They were just talking about that on The Dr's. show this morning, about how important it is to keep hydrated when you are vomiting or with diarrhea.

Oh my gosh, Kathy, this could be really bad. If he does have the swine flu, they are supposed to quarantine him to the home. Did you take him to the Dr to get a nasal swab to verify?

I know it's his brother, but if you and the Doc think he may have ANY kind of flu, he really should not go to the wedding. (Lots of kissing/hugging at weddings) IF, and this is a big IF, he goes to the wedding he HAS TO WEAR A MASK.

People are getting kinda blase' about the swine flu now, but it is still very dangerous.

I hope everyone else stays healthy for "the big day"

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Mary

We are off to the doctor in a few minutes. He has to go in the back door at the office and don a mask! I remember having influenza A about 15 years ago and we sure didn't have to do that then when I went to the doctor. He is 7 days into this bug. The wedding will be outside and very small. The reception however will be open to friends and relatives, etc... He did go to the rehearsal yesterday but we kept him away from people, no hand shaking, etc... out in the fresh air the whole time. We are kidding around that we just need to get him a mask and a sequined glove and he can just saying he's paying homage to Michael Jackson! lol Acutally he might have gotten this at a wedding we attended two days before he came down with this. Someone there wasn't feeling well that we were hanging around with. Same age too. He only has this one brother and no sisters so I'd sure hate for him to miss it-I don't think he will have too because Wednesday is the 10 day mark and he should be getting better. The doc will tell us. Maybe we should see if we can give out Tamaflu as party favors! lol Gotta keep a good attitude right???? PS This is a very casual wedding and Kevin won't be kissing/hugging anyone but I know that all it takes is one uncovered cough to spread it.

LOL @MJ glove comment. Will be watching here to see your update. Good luck and hope it's not as bad as you think........ tell him us ladies are pulling for him!!

The H1N1 flu is a very contagious flu. If your DS or anyone else in your family has the flu, they should not be in contact with the general public. I also think that if your DS has the swine flu he would not be up or out and about functioning normally. What symptoms has your DS had? Tamiflu has to be started within 48 hrs of the onset of symptoms. If someone in your family is diagnosed with the flu Tamiflu can be taken to prevent you from getting the flu.

UPDATE!
Back from the doctors office. He has ear infections in both ears which is something for an 18 yr old! That hasn't happened since he was 2! They tested him with the nose swab for Influenza. It came up negative BUT she said since he's 7 days into it there's probably not much virus shedding. She says there is no seasonal influenza going around, he's symptomatic of influenza, there is swine flu locally so she still thinks that's what he has. She said he should be ok for the wedding and not contagious at that point. I am going to put around some hand sanitzers at the reception. Since it's going around there could be someone else coming down with it anyway. There was a big outbreak at a summer camp not too far from here a few weeks ago. Only one person actually tested positive for H1N1 but tons of kids are sick so maybe this isn't testing positive as easily as some others do. We have all had influenza before and I recognized it very early into it. He hasn't gone anywhere except the rehearsal last night. I think he was actually starting to get better Friday but the ear problems started on Saturday. So if any of the rest of us get symptomatic we will run to the doc for tamaflu. Since he's getting better I'm glad it was swine flu so when he's at college we won't have to worry about that.(Unless it mutates significantly.)

Kathy, just an FYI -
Your son tested negative for the flu, your Dr said he probably had swine flu. But you need to make sure he tells you if he gets flu-like symptoms when he goes back to school. If he did not have swine flu and then gets it later, but neglects to tell you thinking he is immune, it could be dangerous.

Personally, I think the Dr was irresponsible telling you he "probably" had the swine flu, even if it IS an educated guess. Instead of telling you it was swine flu she should have told you he had the flu and to still be aware that getting swine flu is a possibility.

I'm glad he is being treated for the ear infections, and I hope you have a wonderful wedding!

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Mary

Yep if he gets sick at school he will tell me. I really think it is swine flu though. We thought it was that before he went in and she (the doc) thinks it is too. Like she said it's here, they are seeing alot of it and it's the only thing going around. But thanks for your thoughts!

Just curious...why is your son getting married on a Wednesday? Hope everyone stays healthy!

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That's a very good question! Because they both work at the casino and all their friends are most likely to have the day off. Coincidentally it's the brides grandparents wedding anniversary so that is cool. They were going to have it the day before my other son (the sick one) left for college. I was like-NO WAY, that's too much!!