Yesterday, my two and a half year old grandson was diagnosed with H1N1. 

I have been taking care of him for the better part of a week.  I can barely stand to see how lethargic and feverish he has been.  His clear blue eyes have taken on a swollen, reddish appearance; his arms and legs so limp and without the usual hyper active antics of a healthy toddler.  He is sick.  He even says to me, "Doctor.  Doctor."  The diagnosis stung.  Disbelief.

Naturally, since I am his primary care giver, next to his mom and dad, I had some questions.  How in the world did he get this?  Day Care, when I am not taking care of him, would be a natural guess?  Oh my God!  What do we do for him?  How bad is this?  (all the confusing news media reports on this serious flu strain are running through my mind...the severity; the depth of this virus, the affect on my precious grandson...and his baby sister?!?  What do we do now?

One week before his diagnosis with H1N1

And, secondary to the shock of this diagnosis, is the fact that a week from yesterday, my husband and I are leaving for vacation, out of the country.  I *should* have some curiosity.  Will I get this?  How likely am I to get this? Am I high risk?  Low risk?  Or somewhere in between?  What is the appropriate course of action?  Do I want to risk coming down with H1N1 when I am in a third world country?  Thinking...not.

I tell myself, it's not a problem, whatever it is... it IS!  I can handle the truth!  Or can I?  Would like to think I could.  

 My immediate concern is for my grandson and his younger sibling, my 7 month old grand daughter, who is in the considerably higher risk category.

I cannot bear the thought that this freaking flu has gotten to my babies!

Doctor confirms he has the H1N1 flu.  Doctor says he is over the worst.  He is 5-6 days into it.  He also has double ear infections.  So, he can take antibiotics for the secondary ear infections but it will have no affect on the dreaded flu.  It will have to run it's course.  Those are not the most reassuring words!

The real concern is for my grand daughter, 7 months and with little immune systems in place, who will likely come down with the "swine" flu in a day or two.  My heart pounds heavily, like nothing I have felt before.  She is so little and her immune system cannot fight this.  Now what?!

My baby grand daughter has no idea what is coming.  Nor do we.

I am just the grandmother.  I get that.  I am a tough cookie.  A rough, tough cream puff!  Heck yeah!  I will look this demon in the eye!  I will lick the germs off the toys and bounce back stonger, meaner than ever!  Never test the strength of a die hard gramma!  Never!  You get that?

So, doctor says, "Gramma is in a low risk group for H1N1."  I can dig that. What can I do?  What should I do?

Had it not been for the 2 respiratory infections I had last season and the uber strong antibiotics I took for those two suckers...I would have no issue with being in the low group.  Fine.  I have never had a flu shot in my life.  True.  Have never intended on getting flu shots...till now.  Yet, I am still not sure.

What is the proper medical protocol?  I had to ask.  Boy, were the answers varied!  It is clear, that there is no pat answer to all the questions that arise when someone close to you is diagnosed with H1N1.

I got very passionate resp0nses from my daughter and mother of my diagnosed grandson.  She is very medically oriented, a vet tech and her best friend, a Pediatrician, is her children's doc. 

Then, there is my sister, Sheila, who is a Labor and Delivery Tech for a major hospital, who is debriefed daily on the H1N1 protocol, who has very strong opinions about the optimal course of action.

Then there is the national news.  The local news.  The Internet Med sites. The experience and opinions of your family and friends.  Who would you put your money on?

For my money, it's my daughter and mother of my grandbabies.  She wins.  But she, too, is conflicted.  There is no 100% right course of action for this.  It differs by age group, length of exposure, previous medical history and the medical opinion of your own family doctor.  It is relatively new and there is differing protocol, depending on your circumstances, where you live, who you consult with and how you decide what is best for your situation.  There is no right or wrong decision here.  There is only the best available information that is known today.  It may change tomorrow.  It may change next week...next month...and so on.

It boils down to personal choice; whether or not to take the known possible medications to lessen the degree of the virus or shorten it's longevity and minimize, if lucky, it's affects.  It is very subjective.  It is fickle at best.

I could care less about my vacation next week and am so much more concerned about the choices left to us in determining the proper course of action for something that has very little history or a success or failure rate by which to decide what is best.

It's the flu, pure and simple. Or is it?  Depends on how your body assimilates the virus and then, more importantly, how your body absorbs the medication.  And that is only IF you are in the *group* that is given the medication which 'may or may not' have any affect on your healing at all. 

You ask yourself, where did this come from?  Apparently in our case, a family from Tennessee was visiting relatives of a child who goes to the same day care as my grandson and were all (5) diagnosesdwith H1N1. 

You can have faith in whatever happens or you can see this as a medical crap shoot.

Most of us reading this are in a low risk group.  The precious babies in these photos are in a high risk group. 

I am writing this for them.

I have purposely left out medical details and names of possible medications for the "Swine Flu."  Or, H1N1, to be politically correct.  This is very controversial at best.

Do your research.  Don't be surprised, as I was, to find that there are very differing answers to all your questions.  They vary from doctor to doctor. Doctor to Pharmacist ,who gives you "informed instructions" on how to take your medication or that of your infant child or grand children.

And did I mention that there is a shortage of medication for H1N1?  Surely most of us have heard this in the news or on the Net.  It, too, varies by state, county and pharmacy.  Be proactive,  Make some calls.  You need to know where it is available when the time of need comes calling.

I am far less concerned about myself and critically concerned about my grand babies and all the babies that are exposed to this uncontrolled virus that seems to be spreading faster than the tabloids. 

The medicine needed for babies and toddlers is far less available than that for adults.  It must be compounded at pharmacies that have the vaccine readily available.  It took 2 days to get this for my grand daughter, who has not presented symptoms yet, but is expected to come down with this flu any time now.  That may not seem so bad or so long, but the timing is critical in catching this virus in the first 12-24 hours.  Otherwise, the meds have little or not affect, according to their Pediatrician, my GP and a major hospital currently treating several cases of H1N1.

Be proactive where your little ones are concerned.  Do not hesitiate to take action if there is any hint of this virus in your family or if symptoms of the flu show up in you or your children.  Especially fever, is not to be overlooked with this virus, as it comes on rather suddenly.  Their health and ours is in our hands and our ability to act quickly.

 For our immediate family, it is one day at a time right now.  We have all been exposed and we are all being treated differently, when symptoms appear.  I am praying for the babies to get through this quickly and without any long term negative side affects.  Only time will tell.  I have faith that all will be OK and this, too, shall pass.

Be well, take good care and be prepared for a long, hard winter.