The stubborn bug saga

As i write this post, i really hope im seeing the end of this particularly feisty bug that has been plaguing my family for the past month and a half.

It all started with Thane.

He came down with a fever on the day of our wedding anniversary, which was 15th June, a Monday.

Having a nice buffet lunch, oblivious to the "battle" we had to fight soon

After a nice day out together, we came home to my mum in law's house to find him burning up. We gave him paracetamol and a cool bath and thought nothing much of it, cos her house is a furnace and we concluded he was probably suffering from mild heat stroke and dehydration.

We started to get worried when his fever yo-yoed up and down, registering highs of 38.5degrees over the next 2 days. To make matters worse, he had 6 teeth erupting at the same time and his appetite was almost zilch.

As there were no other symptoms, i was beginning to worry it could be a urinary tract infection so I brought him to the pd on Wednesday just to get him checked out.

Turned out it was a throat infection and after 3 doses of her prescribed antibiotic, his fever subsided.

Here they are, full of energy, despite being sick

By the way, the toddler bed will always be put in the living room for us to nurse whichever kid that is sick. One, for isolation purposes and two, temperature taking and sponging throughout the nite is less disruptive to those who are sleeping, if it were to be done downstairs.

So the toddler bed was a permanent fixture in our living room for close to 2 weeks when the kids took turns to use it.

Thinking that the worst was over, we went for Thane's weekly LNT class on Friday and even met up with the entire family on Saturday to celebrate Fathers' Day.

To our dismay, his fever came back on Sunday and by evening, it even reached a high of 39.5 degrees. He also had 4 bouts of diarrhea that day.

By then hubby was starting to get frantic cos he was so afraid of witnessing a replay of Terelle's fit when she had high fever 2 years ago. So we inserted a suppository and quickly rushed to kkh to get him checked out.

At the hospital, his fever began to subside and the doctor diagnosed him to be having viral gastroenteritis. She said it was a different bug from the one in his throat and all we had to do was manage the fever and watch for dehydration from the diarrhea.

Thankfully, everything cleared after another 2 days.

But then Terelle was next.

She started to develop a fever of 38degrees on Tuesday and similarly, it yo-yoed up and down over the next 2 days.

Having an ice popsicle treat to bring down her fever

Surprisingly that was about it.

She had no other symptoms and was hale and hearty again in just 2 days. And through it all she was her usual self, bouncing off the walls and inciting Baby Bone to mischief even though she was burning up.

Here she is, teaching him to do something cheeky as usual

He hero worships her and will copy whatever she does

So it was time to celebrate!

The kids were happy and healthy once more!

Time to head out again cos they had been stuck at home the past 2 weeks!

Modelling Yiyi's sunglasses at a dessert shop just before heading to the indoor playground

And here we are enjoying a nice steamboat dinner sans kids, to replenish all the lost energy during those sleepless nights taking care of the kids

How wrong we were!

That night, it was my turn to succumb to the bug. I started to feel lousy right after the steamboat and woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and chills. My throat also felt as though there were bits of glass in it and swallowing was pure torture.

That was Sunday.

My fever only hovered around 38degrees but i felt like i had been hit by a truck. I marvelled at how the kids could still prance around the house when they registered higher temperatures than I did.

Went to the doc the next day but could only take mild med cos i am still breastfeeding Thane. By Wednesday, my fever still had not subsided, my throat was killing me and i had frequent bouts of diarrhea too. I felt so nauseous and bloated and could hardly sleep, i was feeling that uncomfortable. I couldnt take it any more and went back to the doc to beg for stronger med and some antibiotics.

Thursday came and went and i wasnt any better. Thankfully, the mum of one of Terelle's classmates volunteered to help me send and fetch her to school. I was so weak i could hardly stand. All i could manage to do was drag myself from the bed to the toilet and back again.

Hubby had to leave for a business trip on Friday and i was still burning. I was also getting frustrated and helpless that i couldnt shake the darn bug. This was one of the rare times i was so sick!

My fever only finally subsided on Saturday and by Sunday, i was 80% back to normal. 7 feverish, comatosa days! Well i lost some weight in the process...only good thing that came out of it. *grin*

But that wasnt the end.
Hubby left for his business trip already nursing a sore throat. He came back on Sunday and by Monday, it was his turn to burn up. The doc only gave him a 3 day course of antibiotics but after the 3rd day, all his symptoms abated so he thought he had fully recovered.

Alas the nasty bug fought back with a vengeance and by that sunday, he had chills and a fever again, in addition to a chesty cough which left him breathless.

A 2nd visit to a different doc, some new med and 3 days later, still no improvement. In fact he seemed to have deteriorated, with his phlegm showing streaks of blood.*gasp*

A 3rd visit to the original doc returned a dire prognosis - bronchitis, the bug was now ravaging his lungs. She prescribed a stronger antibiotic and warned him that if he got any worse, he would have to go to the hospital to be treated for pneumonia.

And so, as i write this, he has already been on the new course of antibiotics for a week and is due for a review tomorrow. Hopefully he is finally on the mend.

Conclusion: Same bug, different manifestation...and Terelle is the strongest of us all?