Update from my ER post

[Jean in Newcastle]

My fever is gone. It might be down because my ribs hurt so badly from coughing that I'm taking Motrin just to be able to cope with that. Last night was another bad night. The only way I was able to keep from coughing so badly that I was almost vomiting was by sitting straight up in the arm chair.

 

Dd8 woke up this morning in a panic with croup. I figured out that that is basically what I have in adult form. I'm going to have a more difficult time keeping her out of the hospital because she doesn't like to drink. Dh just came and told her (and indirectly me) that she has to drink something every 30 minutes. He also told me to keep her on children's motrin to try and keep down the inflammation.

 

I'm planning on letting Ds13 catch up on the one day of school that he is behind his sister. Then I'm going to limp through sick chores: there is a bunch of sick laundry that must be done. And no one has cleaned the bathroom since I had a major accident yesterday when I had my scary not breathing episode. And with two of us on fluids, I may have to go to the store.

[Impish]

:grouphug:

Water is in the house. Keep your butt at home. You can even add a bit of ginger and sugar to the water to make it more enticing.

[Tammyla]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

:grouphug:

[BMW]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Praying for you and your dd.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[Unicorn.]

:grouphug:

Water is in the house. Keep your butt at home. You can even add a bit of ginger and sugar to the water to make it more enticing.

 

Yeah, but she might run out of TP! :D

 

Jean, :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Feel better soon! I'm on day 10 of bronchitis, so I feel your rib pain.

[Jan in SC]

If your dd starts to get croupy again, fling open the freezer door and have her stand there and breathe. It really helps! It sounds like your dh needs to stay home today!!

[mykdsmomy]

It could be pertussis. The ER most likely didn't check for it but your symptoms sound like it's a possibility. Try to take some Vit. A and C if you can. Sending your family healing prayers :grouphug:

[Perry]

It could be pertussis. The ER most likely didn't check for it but your symptoms sound like it's a possibility.

I was thinking that too, but fever is usually absent in pertussis. Might be worth testing for anyway though.

 

I'm taking my dd in to test for pertussis this morning. She's had a horrible cough for 2 weeks, and we've had cases in my area. :sad:

[Liz CA]

Jean, if I lived close by, I'd come over with tons of water, juice, etc.!

I am praying that your immune system will get so strong that you don't know anymore what a cold is.

Do you have any friends/neighbors that can make a trip to the store for you?

 

Maybe a warm water compress/warm water bottle against your chest would help with some of the pain.

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Jean, if I lived close by, I'd come over with tons of water, juice, etc.!

I am praying that your immune system will get so strong that you don't know anymore what a cold is.

Do you have any friends/neighbors that can make a trip to the store for you?

 

Maybe a warm water compress/warm water bottle against your chest would help with some of the pain.

 

 

Thank you, Liz. A neighbor did come by and left some Mucinex and a pedialyte popsicle out on my porch because she didn't want to be contaminated.:001_smile:

 

I spoke too soon on the fever. My fever is back. But ds did help me to get one load of "sick laundry" in the washer.

[Whereneverever]

Sounds like pertussis- did they test for it? We've had pertussis a few times here (once for each DD + I had it years ago) and it's miserable.

[Jean in Newcastle]

No they didn't test for pertussis. But both dd8 and I are vaccinated against it. Could we still get it?

 

Our worst symptom is actually inflammation in the airways esp. around the larynx. I can barely talk. Both dd and I wheeze, instead of whoop.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I'm so sorry you're feeling so bad! :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[holdoll]

Praying for you and your dd, Jean! :grouphug::grouphug:

[EKS]

Could you possibly have whooping cough?

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

No they didn't test for pertussis. But both dd8 and I are vaccinated against it. Could we still get it?

 

Our worst symptom is actually inflammation in the airways esp. around the larynx. I can barely talk. Both dd and I wheeze, instead of whoop.

 

Have you received a pertussis booster as an adult? I just did after potential exposure in my last job. They recommend boosters as adults which I did not know.

 

I did have something similar in September where I could hardly talk at all with the pneumonia. It was probably some bug that progressed in me.

 

I hope you feel better soon. Try to stay home. Popsicles and ice cream might good for throat.

:grouphug:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Have you received a pertussis booster as an adult? I just did after potential exposure in my last job. They recommend boosters as adults which I did not know.

 

I did have something similar in September where I could hardly talk at all with the pneumonia. It was probably some bug that progressed in me.

 

I hope you feel better soon. Try to stay home. Popsicles and ice cream might good for throat.

:grouphug:

 

Yes, I had the pertussis booster a couple of years ago.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Warm salt gargles may help your throat too.

[i.love.lucy]

Call someone to go to the grocery store for you.

 

You just have to do it. It's hard. Send a text or email if you can't talk. We all hate to ask for help, but you are desperate. Put out an email to a few friends.

 

Man! I wish you lived by me. I would be there in a flash with chicken soup, ice pops and tea and toilet paper.

 

:grouphug:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Call someone to go to the grocery store for you.

 

You just have to do it. It's hard. Send a text or email if you can't talk. We all hate to ask for help, but you are desperate. Put out an email to a few friends.

 

Man! I wish you lived by me. I would be there in a flash with chicken soup, ice pops and tea and toilet paper.

 

:grouphug:

 

I have plenty of toilet paper! Whew!

 

I definitely will e-mail my dh with a shopping list. I think I've got enough stuff to tide me over until then. If not, I'll let someone around here know.

 

My voice is totally gone now but my breathing is easier. I'm communicating with the kids using pad and pen. And they gave me a little bell to ring to get their attention.

 

I'll alternating tylenol and motrin since this fever is very stubborn. Also my dh is concerned about the amount of inflammation in my airways.

 

My dd8, with the resilience of youth, is doing very well with motrin and fluids. She's insisted on doing school so that her brother can't catch up to her.;)

 

I'm only checking in here because I had to get up to go to the bathroom. I'm going to go rest in my armchair again.

[Whereneverever]

Yes, even with current vaccinations you can still get pertussis. It's a rotten bug in that way!

[Denisemomof4]

Wow, Jean, this sounds like a HORRIBLE virus. Is that what it definitely is? Did the hospital run tests?

 

I hate the thought of you sitting in an armchair all night! Can you prop yourself up in bed enough?

 

I wish I lived close by! I'd come help you! I hope your dh gets a good stockpile of things you'll need this week. I'm sorry you're so sick!!!:grouphug::grouphug:

 

BTW, your dd made me smile. Nothing like that good ole sibling competition, eh? ;)

 

Hey - can you have your dh add fresh garlic and ginger to the list? Add the apple cider vinegar and cayenne if you can. Fresh ginger and garlic have antibiotic properties, too, and often times will burn the sickness out of your system. If I were there, I'd be forcing it in you. ;) I'd also wear a nose clip.:lol:

 

I pray you recover quickly. Are you taking herbs for the inflammation? Zyflamend is supposed to be a good anti-inflammatory. They also make Zyflamend PM.

 

Feel better!!!:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[MBM]

Pertussis is making the rounds in our schools.

 

Hope whatever you have is short-lived and you feel better soon, Jean.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Wow, Jean, this sounds like a HORRIBLE virus. Is that what it definitely is? Did the hospital run tests?

 

I hate the thought of you sitting in an armchair all night! Can you prop yourself up in bed enough?

 

I wish I lived close by! I'd come help you! I hope your dh gets a good stockpile of things you'll need this week. I'm sorry you're so sick!!!:grouphug::grouphug:

 

BTW, your dd made me smile. Nothing like that good ole sibling competition, eh? ;)

 

Hey - can you have your dh add fresh garlic and ginger to the list? Add the apple cider vinegar and cayenne if you can. Fresh ginger and garlic have antibiotic properties, too, and often times will burn the sickness out of your system. If I were there, I'd be forcing it in you. ;) I'd also wear a nose clip.:lol:

 

I pray you recover quickly. Are you taking herbs for the inflammation? Zyflamend is supposed to be a good anti-inflammatory. They also make Zyflamend PM.

 

Feel better!!!:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

Dh called a little while ago. I wrote out a shopping list for him which dd read off to him. I do have fresh ginger, garlic, apple cider vinegar and cayenne at home. I'm taking Quercetin and fish oil for inflammation. And of course the motrin.

 

And no, I could not prop myself up in bed enough even though I tried every way I could think of.

 

I have no voice at all now but my breathing is much easier. That's ok - the loss of a voice is a nuisance but the difficulty breathing was terrifying. I had my finger poised on 9-1-1, ready to hand the phone to dd to explain yesterday, when my breathing eased enough for me to figure that I could get to the ER on my own.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

:grouphug: I hope you feel better soon.

[RoughCollie]

Hey - can you have your dh add fresh garlic and ginger to the list? Add the apple cider vinegar and cayenne if you can. Fresh ginger and garlic have antibiotic properties, too, and often times will burn the sickness out of your system. If I were there, I'd be forcing it in you. ;) I'd also wear a nose clip.:lol:

 

Lol. Lucky you live on the opposite coast, Jean. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease! :D

[RoughCollie]

I do have fresh ginger, garlic, apple cider vinegar and cayenne at home.

 

You're actually going to ingest that without Denise having to come over and tie you down? You are a better woman than I am. In fact, I relinquish womanhood and announce once and for all that I am A Big Chicken. I know you are terribly ill, and IMO you are being very brave in the face of all this.

Edited November 9, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Snowfall]

Yes, I had the pertussis booster a couple of years ago.

 

It probably isn't pertussis, given your recent booster and the fever, but it could be. The vaccine is really not very effective, although it does usually make the symptoms much milder (which is why with the severity of your symptoms I'd say it probably isn't pertuss - you never know, though). I was thinking pertussis, too, when I read how badly you were coughing. The only time I have ever had a cough that bad was when I had pertussis at age 17. I was initially misdiagnosed as having a bad case of sudden onset asthma. Even when I had pneumonia in my 20's I didn't cough anything like I did with pertussis. It was terrible. Adults and older children almost never whoop with pertussis.

 

I'd lean towards it not being that because of the fever and the booster, but just keep it in mind. There's really nothing they could do for you at this point, if it was. Antibiotics have not been shown to shorten the duration of the cough or reduce its severity, but they can make you not contagious anymore. Hopefully it's something that responds a little better to treatment or goes away more quickly.

[MJN]

:grouphug:

[Jean in Newcastle]

You're actually going to ingest that without Denise having to come over and tie you down? You are a better woman than I am. In fact, I relinquish womanhood and announce once and for all that I am A Big Chicken. I know you are terribly ill, and IMO you are being very brave in the face of all this.

 

You notice that I did not tell Denise that I was going to take the mixture. I just told her that I had the ingredients. But shhhh. I don't want her to know the difference!

[BMW]

Oh, Jean. I am SOOO sorry!!!! I am sending constant virtual hugs your way. Will add in prayers often, too!

 

Get better, my friend!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thank you for all the prayers. I really, really hope that I can sleep tonight.

[RoughCollie]

You notice that I did not tell Denise that I was going to take the mixture. I just told her that I had the ingredients. But shhhh. I don't want her to know the difference!

 

Well, you eat so much weird stuff (green goop or something?) in the name of good health that I wasn't sure. :D