a very, very bad day

The events of yesterday…

8:45am- I’m at work and receive a call from the front office. They tell me that a mom is on the phone desperate to get her four sick children seen that afternoon and ask if I’d be willing to see them all. I never see four siblings at the same time, but it’s Friday and I feel nice. I agree.

2:20pm- Aforementioned four siblings come in. I see that two of them have already been diagnosed with pneumonia, strep throat, scarlet fever, and ear infections this week. As I examine each of them and feel their hot little bodies, they cough in my face and I think to myself, “man would it suck if they all had the swine flu.” (We have had several recent confirmed cases in our area.) I decide to have the nurses swab each for the flu… just in case…

2:40pm- Two flu tests come back positive for influenza A. Wearing a mask this time, I tell the mom. She asks, “so can they go to their pool party tomorrow?” I try to keep from rolling my eyes.

3:00pm- I decide to send swabs for further testing to confirm/rule out H1N1 (swine flu). I get on the phone with the Health Department who informs me that they are now assuming that any swab testing positive for flu A in our county will likely also test positive for H1N1. I tell her I’m pregnant. She remarks, “well you were wearing a mask weren’t you?” I feel stupid.

5:30pm- I try calling Matt to tell him I’m coming home. I assume he’d be waiting by the phone, as my arrival home was the only thing standing between him and his good friend’s bachelor party that he had been planning for weeks. He doesn’t answer. Finally, he picks up and informs me that Chloe- our dog- has been missing for the past two hours. Apparently, she got scared and ran off when he was rolling our recycling bin into the garage.

5:31pm- I freak out, knowing full well that Chloe doesn’t just run away… in fact, she doesn’t run at all. I get mad and blame Matt for “losing our dog.”

5:45-7:45pm- Wander the neighborhood, carrying Carson in my arms. As I, between tears, call out her name and whistle, Carson laughs and makes barking sounds. Print up and post signs. Am stopped by several nice men who promise to keep a watch out for Chloe… I sob in front of each of them.

8pm- Matt is still out looking. I am bathing Carson and getting him to bed. I hear Matt come in and quietly say “hey Catherine, I found her.” He says she was in the woods, not too far from our house, crouched under a bush and shaking. She refuses to walk home, so he carries her 60 pounds back to the house.

8:01pm- I thank him and begin to apologize for being so mean to him. Matt claims I blamed him for “murdering our dog.” I think that would have been a bit extreme for me to say. Regardless, I say I’m sorry. A lot. He then tells me that my mom had already informed him about the swine flu situation. He is visibly concerned about this new issue.

9:00pm- I send Matt out to pick us up dinner at Taco Bell. I haven’t eaten Taco Bell in probably over 15 years, and I didn’t even have an appetite. I did, however, want to provide Mary Grace with some sort of nutrition, and a chicken soft taco doused in Fire sauce from Taco Bell was the only thing that sounded at all appetizing.

9-9:30pm- Now that Dog Hunt 2009 is over, I start freaking out more about my exposure to probable swine flu. I call my OB who is super nice and understanding and thinks I should start prophylactic treatment with tamiflu. She has never prescribed tamiflu, so she asks me what my dose would be. That doesn’t make me feel any better. My mom meanwhile is calling our family friend who is a physician I trust a great deal. And Matt is on the phone with his best friend who is one of the newest (and best) OB/GYN residents in North Carolina. I get different advice from each one, as there is very little evidence on the effects of either Tamiflu or the swine flu in pregnancy. I cry (again).

9:30pm- Matt and I nibble on our Taco Bell and recount the events of the day. I convince him to go to the bachelor party.

10:30pm- I get in bed, physically and emotionally exhausted. Matt leaves for his 4 hour drive to Blacksburg, VA.

3am- As I lie in bed wide awake, I get a text from Matt that he is alive and has made it.

6am- I sit in the kitchen with my decaf coffee and my Taco Bell detox breakfast of a Kashi waffle and thank God for new days.

So, after scouring the CDC website, reading about studies performed on mice and rabbits, and picking the brains of a number of health care professionals, I have officially started myself on a 10 day course of Tamiflu to prevent the swine flu from taking me (and my household) down. Please pray that I remain healthy and that this medication has no negative effects on me or my little baby girl.

Here’s to a better day today, retail therapy, Chickfila, and the nap that is awaiting me!

“You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, say this: ‘God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!’ That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm… Yes, because God‘s your refuge, the High God your very own home. Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door. He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go.” Psalm 91:1-4, 9-11