Another Bug Collected

It's flu season, not just Swine Flu, but many many other types of flu as well. We don't seem to feel it so much last winter when we first moved here. Perhaps I have forgotten already, or maybe we didn't go out as much or perhaps the flu jab we took before coming really helped....

Anyway, amongst us, XX got it worst. He'd just recovered from a flu and completed a round of antibiotics last week but last night, another bug got him coughing and feverish at night. Poor little one, more teary eyes, runny nose and blocked breathing.

The husband is a great supporter of seeing doctors. That's always his first reaction when he knows the kids are unwell. I'll prefer to let them go through it themselves if it's not too serious. But this time, my main concern is if it's H1N1. The cough and fever came on quite fast so I want some diagnosis before it spreads to everyone of us.

We brought XX to the clinic today and the doctor was annoyingly nonchalant about it. "He's got another one, just like many children during this time, just like all of us." I think he's probably seen a thousand parents like us who bring their son to see the doctor when there's no cause for concern. "Children get colds all the time, it's normal. They need to get some (bugs), so they will be immune against them by the time they go to school." Ok, I never see it that way. I have this visual impression that bugs, like some school trophies or badges, are something we collect as part of the growing up process and the more we have in our collection shows the more experience we have. This philosophy needs some digesting but I sure hope his diagnosis is straight on. He does seem to know what he's talking. He did the usual checks on XX, heard his chesty cough and declared that he doesn't have anything that needs antibiotics.

XX is up from his nap and the fever's back. Time for some Panadols to help fight the bug he unfortunately collected.