I tease Kenn about how he seems to like to get his medical insurance deductible out of the way as soon as possible each new year. He gets an injection in his back once or twice every year and he should get one this month, so I figured that would be where most, if not all, of his deductible went. I was wrong. He woke up with a cough on New Year’s Eve. I asked if he needed to go to an urgent care center since odds were our doctor’s office wasn’t open. He assured me it was just sinus drainage and he’d be fine. He was not. His cough did not improve and he finally went to an urgent care center around 7:30pm. He tested negative for flu, strep, and COVID. However, the nurse practitioner (Holly) told him that since his symptoms had just started, it might be too early for anything to show up on the tests. She did prescribe a cough syrup for him since our over-the-counter stuff was having no effect.

Our oldest grandson was staying with us for a few days but I made arrangements to take him to his other grandparents early New Year’s Day in an effort to reduce any exposure he might have – just in case. Kenn did nothing but get worse during the day and when his fever got over 101 degrees, I took him back to the urgent care center. This time he tested positive for flu and strep. The flu didn’t really surprise me; the strep did. Holly told Kenn that the next few days were going to suck and that this season’s flu tends to hang around for two to three weeks. She also told him to be thankful that he had gotten his flu shot; he would be way worse without it. She said that she wasn’t even going to worry about treating the flu; it was the strep that needed treatment fast. We left with a prescription for an antibiotic and hunkered down for the long haul.

My efforts to keep our grandson from getting sick were in vain; by Friday, he had a headache, fever, and lethargy. Sigh. At least his other grandparents didn’t get sick. Poor Kenn was miserable. He had no energy and a horrible cough that kept him up most nights. I settled into my role as nurse, cook, and chauffeur. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to make things better. Kenn had a follow-up appointment with Holly this week and I took him in a day early since his cough was just not getting any better. Holly prescribed a different cough medication and an inhaler. She also backed me up when I said I thought he needed to reschedule several appointments he had this week. (Thanks, Holly!) On the plus side, his strep was gone!

The new cough syrup, Ninjacof, seemed to do the trick. Kenn finally got a couple of good nights sleep. As of this writing (Friday, January 9th) he seems to have turned the corner. He hasn’t run a fever for several days and while he is still coughing, it’s nothing like it was before. Kenn is usually very active; he’s always outside doing yardwork, etc. Not having the energy to do anything but sit around has been killing him. I knew for sure that he was better when I needed to run an errand this morning. Not only did he want to go with me, he asked if he could drive! Unless he takes a turn for the worse, he’s planning to go back to work next week, but only work half days until he gets his stamina back.

As for me, I’ve been fine. (Thank you, Jesus!) A friend also contacted me and let me know that she had some Tamiflu she had gotten as a preventative measure and had only taken a couple; she offered me the rest. I took her up on that offer and have had it on standby in case I started getting sick. If I haven’t gotten it by this point, I think I’ll be okay.

The only thing missing from the picture above is the Icy Hot. Poor Kenn coughed so much and so hard, his back muscles were spasming. Occasional massages and Icy Hot were added to the rest of the medication regime.

I hope your new year is getting off to a better start than ours and that you and your family are flu free!