@February Covid and general kid sickness

[eddy]

Feb 6, 2023 13:56:29 GMT -5 beerlover said:

Speaking of stomach bugs, I posted this in randoms but is it possible to get another stomach bug two weeks after you already had one?! Are some bugs just weird and incredibly slow moving? Did I not clean my house enough and he got reinfected somehow?

My son threw up the night of the 22nd so I had to keep him home from school that Monday the 23rd. He then had (TMI) diarrhea all week, which was awesome (basically it was just once a day, but he just wasn't right for awhile). Finally got over that, was fine all the last week, normal digestion and eating, and then back to diarrhea yesterday and he threw up before bed last night. Did he really catch something else that soon? He's never sick this frequently so this seems over the top.

I have had this happen with my kids. Sometimes I just think it is their sensitive digestive system resetting itself. Like something sets it off because everything is not back to normal.

It sucks so much.

[beerlover]

Feb 7, 2023 11:56:21 GMT -5 eddy said:

Feb 6, 2023 13:56:29 GMT -5 beerlover said:

Speaking of stomach bugs, I posted this in randoms but is it possible to get another stomach bug two weeks after you already had one?! Are some bugs just weird and incredibly slow moving? Did I not clean my house enough and he got reinfected somehow?

My son threw up the night of the 22nd so I had to keep him home from school that Monday the 23rd. He then had (TMI) diarrhea all week, which was awesome (basically it was just once a day, but he just wasn't right for awhile). Finally got over that, was fine all the last week, normal digestion and eating, and then back to diarrhea yesterday and he threw up before bed last night. Did he really catch something else that soon? He's never sick this frequently so this seems over the top.

I have had this happen with my kids. Sometimes I just think it is their sensitive digestive system resetting itself. Like something sets it off because everything is not back to normal.

It sucks so much.

My kid would often get a bug, be fine in a day, and then have a last hurrah of throwing up like 5 days later. But 14 days later, I was surprised lol. He's perfectly fine now. Honestly, he eats WAY too much fruit and that day we had brunch at my parents and he ate a million strawberries, so I'm wondering if that was part of it and just didn't agree with him. And I have to think it's something to do with just him not being over it, since H and I have been fine this whole time.

[raleighnc]

Feb 6, 2023 11:46:17 GMT -5 Pilsy said:

We've somehow not done the bivalent booster for our girls yet. They're both afraid of needles, and I thought I would lose my mind the last time I took them, which must have been for flu shots. I'm really dreading doing that again.

I need to work up the courage/motivation/whatever to get this done. We are finally taking a real vacation in April, so if nothing else does it, that will be my incentive.

If you don't already have numbing/EMLA cream, ask your pedi for a prescription. My daughter is terrified of needles and we suffered for years and have gone through years of therapy and running away from appointments and panic attacks. After having to extract her from behind a bookshelf for her 11yo vaccines (which she didn't get done until 12), I asked the pedi for the cream (my girls got their ears pierced by another pedi office who used the cream). It has been instrumental in getting through Covid vaccines, etc. It makes me so mad that the pedi didn't suggest it the first time we had a meltdown. I understand that there are lidocaine allergies and some kids may not be traumatized by injections, but numbing cream seems like a reasonable step before/in addition to Ativan. So I am the crazy lady who tells strangers to ask their pedi about numbing cream.

[Pilsy]

raleighnc, thank you!

[Susie]

Did the haul today to get DS (3) his bivalent Moderna booster, as much of a pain as it was.  We're pretty open these days with the kids and activities, so I feel better knowing that our whole family is now bivalent boosted.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Feb 2, 2023 11:18:08 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Feb 2, 2023 10:42:04 GMT -5 dcrunnergirl52 said:

seeyalater52 and other vax expert: DS3 turned 5 on 1/31 (so earlier this week). He had the <5 pediatric shots (Moderna, both doses) back in June/July 2022. He hasn't received the booster yet.

Should I get him the >5 bivalent booster? Or, the regular >5 covid shot (2 dose)? I'm thinking the >5 booster. He had his well check today, and DH asked but then couldn't remember exactly what the doctor told him. He thinks it was to do the >5 booster.

He won’t be eligible for another 2 shot primary series if he already received it, regardless of the fact that he’s “aged up” into another age bracket. If I’m recalling correctly with that age and primary series he should be eligible for either a Pfizer OR a Moderna bivalent booster. Moderna looks to have slightly more durability but they’re essentially equivalent options so personally I’d get what you can find.

Thanks so much for the advice. We got him the Pfizer booster last week.

[chickadee77]

Y'all. Found an appointment with the health department to get my 4yo her bivalent - like, fifteen minutes away, not an hour like I thought it was going to be! Called to confirm they have the right one, and hot damn!

Gotta take her in in her boot, though (poor thing broke her foot last week), but that shouldn't pose any problems, I don't think. Woot!

[Bad Dingo]

Sharing in this thread because of @@
Scientific American Article: COVID Poses Severe Risks during Pregnancy, Especially in Unvaccinated People

[k3am]

Feb 10, 2023 13:11:32 GMT -5 raleighnc said:

If you don't already have numbing/EMLA cream, ask your pedi for a prescription. My daughter is terrified of needles and we suffered for years and have gone through years of therapy and running away from appointments and panic attacks. After having to extract her from behind a bookshelf for her 11yo vaccines (which she didn't get done until 12), I asked the pedi for the cream (my girls got their ears pierced by another pedi office who used the cream). It has been instrumental in getting through Covid vaccines, etc. It makes me so mad that the pedi didn't suggest it the first time we had a meltdown. I understand that there are lidocaine allergies and some kids may not be traumatized by injections, but numbing cream seems like a reasonable step before/in addition to Ativan. So I am the crazy lady who tells strangers to ask their pedi about numbing cream.

This has never once been offered to us. I'm not sure if it would help at this point since DD's needle phobia is so severe at this point. She's got a long/complex medical history and lots of medical trauma, but during our last blood draw, one phlebologist (I feel like I've got this title wrong..) flat out refused to attempt a blood draw for fears over her own safety (honestly, can't blame her) and I'm pretty sure DD bruised one of my ribs in the process with 4 people holding her down. I emailed her pediatrician to see if we could come up with strategies and a game plan for the future and her response was that I should try to distract her. Because that one never occurred to me. 

[raleighnc]

Feb 22, 2023 17:09:30 GMT -5 k3am said:

Feb 10, 2023 13:11:32 GMT -5 raleighnc said:

If you don't already have numbing/EMLA cream, ask your pedi for a prescription. My daughter is terrified of needles and we suffered for years and have gone through years of therapy and running away from appointments and panic attacks. After having to extract her from behind a bookshelf for her 11yo vaccines (which she didn't get done until 12), I asked the pedi for the cream (my girls got their ears pierced by another pedi office who used the cream). It has been instrumental in getting through Covid vaccines, etc. It makes me so mad that the pedi didn't suggest it the first time we had a meltdown. I understand that there are lidocaine allergies and some kids may not be traumatized by injections, but numbing cream seems like a reasonable step before/in addition to Ativan. So I am the crazy lady who tells strangers to ask their pedi about numbing cream.

This has never once been offered to us. I'm not sure if it would help at this point since DD's needle phobia is so severe at this point. She's got a long/complex medical history and lots of medical trauma, but during our last blood draw, one phlebologist (I feel like I've got this title wrong..) flat out refused to attempt a blood draw for fears over her own safety (honestly, can't blame her) and I'm pretty sure DD bruised one of my ribs in the process with 4 people holding her down. I emailed her pediatrician to see if we could come up with strategies and a game plan for the future and her response was that I should try to distract her. Because that one never occurred to me. 

Yeah, it's BS how we expect kids to just put up with pain. For DD1, the EMLA cream was just one part of the long (like 4+ years) and complex process to get her to the point where she can get a vaccine or go to the dentist. She still hates it and protests, but at least she can do it.

It's a huge pain and more expensive, but there are ways to get critical blood draws or tests for kids under sedation or anesthesia. Sometimes you have to go to a children's hospital.

1) monthly therapy for a year, then weekly therapy for about two years, now every other week. First DBT, then EMDR and DBT
2) daily Lexapro for general anxiety, and something additional for dentist/vaccines - first we tried Ativan/Xanax, but those didn't help as much and messed up her balance for the rest of the day. Now she takes propananol, which blocks most of her physical symptoms (sweating, shaking, crying) and the adrenaline rush that puts her into flight mode.
3) OT to try to reduce her sensory overreactions to stimuli
4) EMLA cream, buzzy bee to try to scramble pain signals, shot blocker (the last two shouldn't be necessary with the EMLA, but she has a sense of control when she gets to choose the coping strategies)
5) general anesthesia for one dental appointment where they removed all the fragments of baby teeth in her gums, cleaned, and filled a cavity (they had to bring in a pedi anesthesiologist), and nitrous for everything after that. I've actually read about parents who have managed to coordinate with the dentist and pedi to do vaccines at the dental office while the kid was under general anesthesia.
6) separating all vaccines and finger sticks from regular physicals. It took over six months to get through her 11yo vaccines, but at least it is done now.
7) We did desensitization visits to the dentist - sometimes just driving to the parking lot, sometimes going into the building and then leaving, eventually sitting in the chair but no cleaning. These weren't very successful until we got her baby teeth out and her meds were better.
8) I can't take her to any of these appointments because she associates me with the original traumas and restraining her for flu shots when flumist was off the market. I should have refused and asked for alternatives to restraining her, but I assumed that there weren't any.

[mysteriouswife]

Can someone come parent for me this weekend?

H has rarely traveled solo our entire 23 years together. Since Sep. he has traveled 3 times. The first trip DS had a nasty fall at school that required a hospital observation and was a big ordeal. H was here the first two days, but had to leave for work. The second trip DS had adenovirus. He was overall cranky and needed lots of 1:1 care. H left today for a short work conference this weekend. DS came home with a fever. I sent H a text and said next trip he takes DS

[krystee]

DS2 has Covid and I have a nasty stomach bug, and I cannot do both of these things at once. I am so happy it’s the weekend now and I can turn things over to H. I am wrapped like a burrito in bed while he figures out dinner and deals with the bored whining. I think that child had nine hours of screen time today.

[macmars45]

krystee I am so sorry. Parenting a sick kid while also sick yourself is the worst. I hope your H stays well.