Paranoid

 

Ask me what I know about the swine flu, and I'd tell you that somehow it came from a pig, and it was mostly concentrated in Mexico. That's it. I haven't been following the frenzy on the news. I haven't been reading the multitude of swine flu posts on Twitter. And I had pity on my friends who are nurses, whose hospitals have been inundated with worried masses in search of a vaccine. As far as I was concerned, this swine flu business is blown way out of proportion by the media waiting for the next big story to come along...like Michelle Obama wearing high-priced sneakers (sigh).

 

And then my 7-year old starting coughing over the weekend. The cough evolved into a slight fever yesterday. What little I knew about the swine flu started perking up at this point, and soon I found myself on the computer searching for the symptoms. Cough. Check. Fever. Check. Sore throat. Check (although that was likely from the coughing). Now, ladies and gentlemen, my paranoia has been officially established. But, what I feared most was not that my kid would become severely ill if she had swine flu, because I heard it's been managed well in the great 'ole USA. Nope, what I was most concerned about, besides missing her school field trip today, was my daughter being a social outcast. When I fantasize about being on television, it was sitting next to Oprah, not on the evening news because my kid closed her school down for the remainder of the year. 

 

I stayed home with the baby, while I sent my husband and daughter to the after-hours pediatric care. Of course, I couldn't wait for him to call me, and I anxiously called him first. I could hear the "I told you so" tone in his voice mixed in with his amusement. He put the doctor on the phone, who told me very nicely that there were only eight reported cases of swine flu in Los Angeles County (well, how was I supposed to know that she wasn't case number nine?!), and that she didn't have the swine flu symptoms (not according to that stupid Internet). My daughter had a simple cold. OK, here's the best part of the story - I found myself trying to explain to the doctor on the phone that I'm not typically one of "those" moms. Ha, ha. Apparently I am. Just like the parents in front of them in line at the clinic last night, and the parents behind them in line. No swine flu there either.

 

Oh well, I know I'm in good company with some of my readers out there. When it comes to our kids, we are never too careful. Even when the diagnosis is swine flu paranoia.

 

 

Comments

[Carrie Anne]

LOL, yes I'm quick to scoff too, until it affects me. My oldest was in the NICU during the SARS scare (& our hospital was at the center of it here). My hubby said if we could make it through that, what's a few pigs!
Cheers,

[Loukia]

I am sooo one of those moms... I tend to worry about every little thing!