Niece sick, now worried about my kids,

[jennyleigh1975]

Well, here I am again. I do so well for a while then this phobia kicks in again. (sighs) I think this time of year it seems to get worse, more sickness going around. ANYWAY ............ here is my question/problem. My niece was sent home from daycare today with the vomit stuff. She was fine this morning, but started vomiting when she got up from her nap this afternoon. She did this all afternoon and this evening. She was fine this weekend, my kids played with her. So here is my question, do you guys think that this is sonething she picked up at daycare today, or should I be worried about my kids getting it. She was fine all weekend and my kids seem fine, if mine were gonna get it too, dont you think they would have by now if she has? Man, I hate to get on here and ramble about this, but atleast you guys understand how I feel.

[ontariogirl]

jennyleigh; Your neice may have caught it from DayCare, it really is hard to say knowing that there are virus's going around, this time of year sucks I know. What I do if my child may have been exposed to the flu I count 3 days if he isnt sick then he wont be sick. My doctor told me that and I have to tell you he was right on the money! I think your kids will be fine. Do they look or act like they are coming down with it. My son would have the pale look and really isnt acting like himself. I know the waiting and worrying is the killer, your mind snowballs and then you become a basket case. I know this may not help, I am thinking about you.


Rhonda

[jennyleigh1975]

Its just nice to know that there ARE other people who understand how I feel. And I agree, waiting to see if they are gonna catch it is the worst. As much as I hate it for my niece (and her mother, who is pregnant with twins) I hope that it was something she caught at daycare today. I figured if she caught it last week, she would have gotten sick over the weekend. Geez, here I go driving myself crazy ..............

[charzysbebe]

First of all, from what I have read in many places, you cannot catch the stomach *flu* before the sick person's symptoms appear. So basicly, your neice was not contageous until she got her symptoms. (such as fever or vomiting) Also, the incubation period for the stomach bug is 24-48 hours...and in rare cases...72. Don't worry...just be glad your kids weren't around her when she got the symptoms. I wouldn't worry about it. I have done my own experimentation with my kids on this subject ALOT!! LOL...take care, Charlotte [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[jennyleigh1975]

Oh, and something I forgot to add, I kissed my niece (who is now sick) on the forehead yesterday. Yikes! Should I be worried?

[charzysbebe]

I wouldn't worry about it. As long as she wasn't ill when you kissed her, you will be fine. I too, have kissed my kids, who fell sick the next day. I was fine, and I am sure you will be too. [img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img] Charlotte

[donna1216]

Not to frighten you, but I read on a couple of sites that stomach bugs can be contagious up to 12 hrs. before the person shows symptoms! I posted under general discussion yesterday (I don't know if any of you read that or not) that my daughter sits next to a little boy at school whose sister was ill yesterday and the day before w/ v'ing, and I am really worried that he was going to catch it and then have passed his germs off to her!!! AHHH!! So, I know what you are going through, jennyleigh!

[jennyleigh1975]

Well, so far so good here. My niece is better and no one else in her house has gotten it ........... YET. So maybe we have managed to escape it again. What do you guys think. We havent been around my niece since Sun. afternoon.

[charzysbebe]

[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]The only bugs you can catch before the symptoms appear, are those influenza and cold type bugs. When a person is carrying the stomach bug, the virus is in incubation inside the walls of the stomach, and therefore are not "released" into the rest of the body yet, therefore, making it impossible to catch. The respiratory bugs on other hand, live in your body, and reproduce in one area (such as throat) and are not hidden inside. They live on and in the throat, and are able to transport out of there when a person sneezes or coughs. They say that colds are even more contageous before symptoms appear because your body hasn't started fighting the virus off yet.(which is when you get your sore throat, and runny nose, etc) I would say jennyleigh, that if you are not sick 72 hours after your exposure to your neice, you are not going to get the bug.Also you weren't around her when she was sick, so you should be fine. [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img] Charlotte

[charzysbebe]

Here is an article I found. It says you have to be in close contact with the infected individual to catch it; meaning you weren't exposed to your neice when she was infected. Also, it says it usually takes 1-3 days to get the bug after you are exposed. Hope I helped! I am sure you are fine. [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img] Charlotte

[charzysbebe]

Oh gosh,I forgot to add the link to the site, on my last post...lol. Here it is! http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddise...stroenteritis/ [img]smileys/smilies_08.gif[/img] Charlotte

[charzysbebe]

Ok,I am going to try this one more time....LOL. The link above doesn't work?? Anyway, here goes....again...


http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddise...viralgastroent eritis/

[zalbar]

Nice link. I never knew how all of that really worked.

[nbg201]

I am so glad to see other mothers go through the same anxiety and panic
I go through. I am dealing with similar situation. A neighbor was ill
Sunday night. We played with her yesterday- outdoors. I am watching
now for that three day incubation period. I don't know about you guys
but I am sick and tired of hearing to just get over it- let the v*** just go.
If you don't have this specific fear- you don't understand. So how may of
you actually catch the stomach stuff from your kids? How often do your
kids catch that kind of bug? I am being bombarded with mother and in-
laws telling me to let my kids get sick- to help build their immune
systems. I mean they have had their share of colds- its the other stuff I
can't deal with. Thanks for listening and letting me vent a little to people
who can actually understand and sympathize with me.

[jennyleigh1975]

nbg201, You sound exactly like me!! I hear from my in-laws all the time, You know kids are gonna get sick, that is just the way it is. I know that for people who dont have this fear that it is hard for the to understand someone who does. Still though, I do get sick and tired of hearing ...... get over it. I can deal with the colds and stuff, I can even deal with the vomti stuff sometimes if I know for sure that it is not contagious.

As for my kids getting sick, for the most part, the ususally dont get the vomit stuff. However, we homeschool too and I am very picky about who we are around. Dont get me wrong, we go out PLENTY and do things, I just always seem to be on the look out for sickly looking people, LOL. I always try to make sure that my kids dont put their hands in their mouths and that they wash them good. Also, knock on wood ............ I have only gotten the vomit stuff from my kids once, and that was when I was pregnant. I am wondering too, any mothers out there that have that one child that seems to catch the vomit stuff more that your other kids? For me that would be my son.

Charlotte, Thank you for the link, thanks to you ALL who responded!!

[rileyl]

Yes, my daughter (6 year old) is WAY more susceptible to catching sv's. My son (8 year old) rarely v*s - less than once a year, and at least two of those times it was because he caught thevirus from his little sister. (I have learned to isolate the sick kid for about 3 days to avoid this.) Also, if my son gets a sv, he v* about 1/4 of the times that my daughter does with the same bug. I chalk it up to physiological differences - some people are just more suceptible. I don't think I would say that my son is more hygenic than his sister, however my daughter still sucks her thumb, so her hands are in her mouth a lot more. CRINGE...


And, yes, I am an insane freak whenever my kids v*, or when I even hear of a big going around. I am so glad other mothers like me are out there!

[charzysbebe]

As for my kids (I have 5) there is only 1 of them that gets the v stuff way more than the others, and she is 10 years old. My oldest, whom is 12, rarely gets it. The past few times 2 of my kids had 2 different v bugs (at 2 different times of the year) I did not catch it. I made sure they rested in their room until 24 hours after the symptoms were gone, and I sprayed lysol all over the place, and washed my hands til they bled. Gosh...sometimes it seems like easier work to just get the illness and get it over with than go through all of that! [img]smileys/smilies_12.gif[/img] Charlotte

[ontariogirl]

I think you are safe with the kids playing outdoors, indoors is the worst,playing andtouching the same toy etc and then the child puts the fingers in the mouth and then there is a good chance that they could get the bug. WhenI was younger I remember a shrink telling me this when you are a childthey are acceptable to virus's, as the child becomes older 12 till about the late 40'sthey hardly become ill because the immune system is stronge and thenhe says when you areolder again you are acceptable to virus's because theimmune systemhas weakened, now it may be truewho knows. My sonlast year had it 4 times, and thank god he was at his dad's for 3 of them.Since school started in September the school has called me 3 times stating that he was sick in the bathroom and is pale, I picked himup, he didn't look pale and he wasn't sick to his stomach at home so I didn't worry about it at all.I am really good at not catching the flu from my son, but Monday, April 28th, 2003 I got it and I got it bad. I felt so sick to my stomach that I wished I was dead,it was brutal, I was in bed sipping on water, had the pail beside me just in case I didnt win the fight, took my anti-nausea pills, so petrified to sleep just in case I woke up and was sick.I was talking to my counsloron the phone and sheissaying to me ok Rhonda you have the stomach flu just let it come up don't fight it, everything will be fine, just stop fighting and let it win and then you will see that it is nothing at all to being sick! I don't think so lady and said goodbye.


I was sitting on the toilet and thinking I am going to lose it at both ends, it took until Friday when I was up and feeling a lot better. I dont know what happened, I made sure I washed my hands, washed everything but the bug got me! That was the last time I was sick and I hope that it is the last. Makes me shiver to this day! With me I am not afraid to have a cold, or the aches and pains with a flu it is the stomach flu that I am petrified with.


I agree with Charlotte's last sentence 100%. I put somuch energy in to not getting the flu all that work. Oh well I will still put my energy into not getting it.

[rileyl]

Ontariogirl - Did you catch the April bug from your son? I too have become a master at NOT catching sv's from my kids, but I guess it only takes one "slip-up" for it to happen. !@#$%^&!


I am with you - I hate advice from people to just "let it go." I will fight to the absolute end. Rationally, I know that this "fight" is obssessive, but believing that I have at least some control over whether I get sickis honestly the only way I can cope with caring for my kids when they get a stomach bug. Taking no measures to prevent the spread of the bug, and just accepting that my son could get it and that I could get is NOT acceptable. That would mean that I would literally be spending about a week dealing with v*!! As a single mom and the wage earner (and an emet), I just can't do this.


When it comes to any illness that does not involve v*g, I am actually a normal, nuturing mom. Sigh.

[ontariogirl]

Rileyl- I did catch the flu from my son and the not so funny part is I had it worse then him!! I hear you, being a single mom is hard and very rewarding. I was talking to my son (he spends one week with his dad and then one week with me for the access, might be changing soon) this morning before school and he is sick with a cold and sore throat that doesn't bother me at all, but the vomiting YUCK! But we do survive when our kids have the flu & we are great nuturing moms!!

[donna1216]

I am with you guys, I am so AWESOME (haha) when my kids are sick with other things--even if it does involve v'ing. This summer, my daughter had swimmer's ear and v'ed from that, and I was just fine--but when you just KNOW it's a stomach virus, that's different, yuck, yuck, yuck!!

[nbg201]

Isn't that funny. I guess we just dread geting sick. For me
though I feel like death is knocking at the door if someone in
the house is puking. My mom had to give us epicac for
medicine overdose (which my sister really had od)- when I was
7 or 8 and it hasn't happened since. I hate the fact I am soo
afraid. I just want to be confident when they are sick we will
survive. I want the anxiety that they could catch a stomach
illness at anytime to end. It is driving me nuts.

Jen