Swine Flu.

No, Carly doesn't have the swine flu. Yet. I'm doing my very best to keep her from getting it. We're staying home. A lot!

On Saturday, Paul and I took Carly to the local health dept., to get her H1N1 shot. We stood in line, in the windy, rainy, cold morning weather, for 1 hr & 15 minutes. Seemed kind of silly to be standing outside in that kind of weather trying to protect her from getting this awful flu. She did receive the shot. Like always, she did just fine. Climbed up on Paul's lap, stuck her arm out and then said "duh" as she always does after getting poked. The nurse got a kick out of that!

From there, we stopped at a store. Ashleigh was home for the weekend and requested a home cooked meal! I needed to pick up just a couple of things to make what she had requested; chicken fried chicken. I had Paul keep a very unhappy little girl in the car. Trying to avoid any unnecessary germs.

We finally got home and all was going well. I was happy that Carly had no signs of the after effects that can go along with the flu shot. Carly played and followed Ashleigh around all night. Finally giving in to sleep about 11:30. I put her to bed and headed to bed myself. I had a hard time sleeping, due to many school issues that are going on right now. I had just fallen asleep when I heard her cough/gag. I knew what was coming. Carly gags just before she vomits. I flew out of bed and grabbed her...Carly does not do well with vomiting. It completely freaks her out. I looked at the clock, it was 1am.

I got her up. Cleaned her up. Then, it happened again. And again. And again. Right up till 5:30am. Every time she would finally fall back to sleep, I would lay her down and within 20 minutes, she was up vomiting all over the place. At 5:30, I yelled for Paul to get up, I needed some help. I wanted to find the "What you need to know" sheet from the health department regarding the side effects. I couldn't find the stupid paper anywhere. I even went outside to the car looking for it. So, I headed to the computer. It took FOREVER to get online...my computer was running so slowly. I finally did find a sight that did confirm my thinking. I had thought that maybe Carly were having dizzy spells last night. Especially when I would lie her down and she would quickly vomit. Dizziness is a side effect of the shot. Right along with vomiting. Although these side effects are not common. Leave it to Carly to pull out all the stops!

She is much better today. Thank goodness. Paul actually stayed up with her at 5:30 so I could finally get some sleep. At about 7, he brought her in to lay down with me. He said she had been doing really well. Drinking, playing and even slept a little on the couch. She climbed in bed with me and slept until 8:30. She hasn't had much of an appetite, but has eaten a some jello and is drinking. Which is what I really worry about.

Unfortunately, Carly will require another H1N1 shot in 28 days. Due to her age and her underdeveloped immune system, (which all kids have, not just her) she is required to receive a booster shot. Boy do I ever dread that.

Due to the many confirmed cases of H1N1 at Carly's school, Paul and I have decided to pull her out for a couple of weeks. I can't see putting her in harms way. There are just too many complications that go along with this flu. I did call Cardiology last week, after finding out about confirmed cases at her school. I was told quite frankly, that Carly could suffer some severe complications due to this flu. Severe to the point of ICU and breathing tubes. So...that sealed the deal. Carly is out of school until this vaccine has time to kick in. That's 12-14 days.

Needless to say, we will be sticking close to home. Carly has an upcoming appt., at UofM. She has cardiology and oncology. I will be calling both places before the appt's. I will NOT be taking her into any infested areas. We may just have to reschedule both of those appts.

I still do not regret getting her this shot. I'm terrified of the swine flu. My aunt's niece, who is in her 20's. Is in very bad shape right now with complications of the swine flu. She is in ICU on a ventilator. Very scary stuff. This young gal doesn't have any underlying health issues..to my knowledge. Her name is Sarah, please say a prayer for her and her family. She is not well.