I spoke too soon...

... and the day after I last posted, I woke up with the same symptoms as my daughter: fever, headache, body aches and cough. My daughter's doctor said we both probably have the swine flu, albeit fairly mild cases, since the regular flu isn't really around yet. We both seem to be on the mend, although I (as always) am still coughing my head off.

A few random musings:

-- My husband, as usual, hasn't caught anything from us. In this instance especially, I am happy for his typical resistance to infection, since as a diabetic with heart issues, he's at risk for severe swine flu, and the vaccine hasn't been available locally except for pregnant women, very young children, and homeless individuals.

-- I'm glad my daughter seems to have a strong constitution, unlike her mother. I remember being a child and how I seemed to catch whatever was going around, and I was usually very sick for at least a week, and many times much longer. Meanwhile, my brother and sister would get sick, if at all, only mildly for a day or two.

The worst occasion (at least socially!) was during February when I was 14. Friday was a half day of school, and I had plans to spend the night at a friend's. Saturday she and I were to attend a birthday party during the day, and a Valentine's dance in the evening. Sunday evening I was to spend the night with another friend, since Monday was President's Day and a holiday from school.

I had had a sore throat for several days, and my mother asked me to go to the doctor on Friday morning, just to be sure nothing was wrong. He examined me for a few minutes and said, "You have the mumps."

I replied, "No, I don't."

Doc: Yes, you do.

Me: No. I. DON'T!

Doc: I'm sorry to say, but Yes. You. Do.

Me: No, it can't be! It can't be!

Doc: (laughing) Did you have a big weekend planned?

Me: Yes! (in despair!)

I found out when I returned to school ten days later that two other kids at school also had the mumps. Neither was someone I hung out with, so how I caught it is a mystery. And naturally, neither of my siblings caught the mumps from me, despite my attempts to pass it on!

My daughter, on the other hand, has rarely been sick. As an infant, she never had colic and had only one ear infection. She caught a really bad upper respiratory infection from me (natch!) at nine months old and was really sick for about a month (the ear infection occurred during this time). Of course, my illness at that time lasted for about three months! Since then, my daughter was never sick again until last fall (almost three years later!) when she developed a persistent cough, which her doctor said may have been caused by breathing in all the mold in the air during her first cold, damp Tacoma autumn. And after that cleared up, she didn't get sick again until last week.

When I think about the things I have to be grateful for, having a healthy child is one of the top items on the list!

--I love my GladRags. This may be TMI, but hey, one of the purposes of my blog is to help people with practical green solutions. I use resusable menstrual pads, which I purchased from GladRags. (For tampon wearers, they also offer Diva Cups, another reusable product). I find GladRags to be much more comfortable than disposable pads. And when I'm sick, they have another use.

When I was pregnant, I developed stress incontinence--urine leakage when I coughed, laughed, sneezed or vomit. It mostly cleared up after I gave birth, but it affects me again when I'm sick, especially when I cough a lot. When I was pregnant, I purchased Poise and Depends pads, but I found them bulky, ineffective and embarrassing to wear. My GladRags, on the other hand, are much more comfortable and absorbent--not only good for the environment, but good for my peace of mind!