H1N1

H1N1 has hit Maquoketa and our home this week....

It has been a really hard week, but we know Jesus has been with us every step of the way!

On Friday, last week in the evening Morgan did not feel well, she threw up, slept and woke up Saturday morning just fine...

On Saturday, everything was good....we went to a wedding, we danced and had fun.

On Sunday, in the morning she felt cold and wanted to wear her coat at church, she ate normal and there was no visible sign of a fever. She went to youth group and came home with a temp of 102.6. I gave her tylenol and sent her to bed at 8:30pm. Her whole body ached...she was crying and in agony.

I had this thought before I went to bed....what if she has a big problem or an asthma attack or something and I don't hear her...so I carried her to our bedroom and had her sleep with me. Mark slept in the living room....at 4:30 am she had an asthma attack that was horrible. I had her machine out so I gave her a treatment and waited....and an hour later I gave her another one....she settled down a little bit and finally fell back to sleep.

When she woke up she was still feverish at 102.9 and I had already called the clinic and they said to bring her in once she woke up....

At nine she woke up - I gave her another breathing treatment and tylenol...a shower and off we went....

We saw a really great Dr. here in town and after a ton of waiting ( 1 1/2 horus)we finally walked out of the clinic with a detailed plan in how to treat H1N1 and how to disinfect my whole house. We then had to wait another 1 1/2 at the pharmacy for all of our prescriptions. They have each called to check on Morgan in the last couple of days.

So, needless to say we have been extremely busy.....but here is a list of symptoms to look for in your children....or yourself.....you have a 48 hour window to seek treatment.......don't wait! It saved Morgan's life.

*First symptom is a headache....normal you think...
*2nd symptom is a sore throat or cough...ok maybe I am sick, but you feel fine otherwise....and then....(this one can sometimes hit with the mack truck)
*a Mack truck hits you going 90 miles an hour....bam...you hurt ...your joints, bones, a higher temp (averages about 102), cough, headache....sometimes vomitting or diareahha

Go to the Dr....

Morgan is high risk due to the asthma that she has battled her whole life....many kids with her condition are dying.

We did all the right things....I trusted my instincts....I gave her breathing treatments when they were critical....but one thing I did wrong was give her tylenol....the drug masks your symptoms too often and you think you are getting better and really you are not..you get up and move around and bam the virus was waiting for that and attacks you harder.

If you have H1N1....EVEN WHEN YOUR FEVER BREAKS AND YOU FEEL GOOD....STAY IN BED FOR A COUPLE MORE DAYS. THE BACTERIA IN YOUR BODY NEEDS TIME TO BE DESTROYED! MOVING AROUND DOES NOT HELP- REST- REST- REST-REST AND REST SOME MORE.

Morgan's fever has broken, she is finally feeling a little better...she is eating a little bit ....after a day of throwing up everything she consumed....we were worried about dehydration yesterday. We have a friend that is a nurse and she came over yesterday to check on Morgan and we decided to keep pushing fluids and the pedialyte and she prayed over Morgan. God has been very faithful to our family and we are so greatful.

So we are just resting and waiting for a few more days to give her body a chance to heal and to clean up all that bacteria in her body....

Today she is coughing a lot which means that bacteria is breaking up and when the cough is gone she is pretty well over it.

Thanks for praying! God has big plans for this little girl...all the attacks against her life make me believe God's has some big things up HIS sleeve for her life and I can't wait to see what they are!