May Your Armor Be With You

A small measles epidemic has run its course through my little daycare family this past few weeks. We were running blind at first, but even after we found out what was the root of all of our symptoms there was little that we could do other than manage the symptoms and alert those around us that 'measles was in the air'.

Yesterday afternoon, My Youngest came home from school feeling dreadful. He told me (later) that he wasn't feeling well when he left for school in the morning but he thought he would get better as the day went on. But he didn't. He felt worse.

The only symptom that he vocalized was that he felt nauseous. One of 'my girls' has had an upset stomach the last half of this week so I guessed that maybe he caught that stomach bug and 'let nature take its course'.

The evening progressed and he slept. And slept.

When he woke up, we chatted a little about how he was feeling. It was then, that I decided to feel his forehead. And he was hot. Very hot. He described his symptoms and everything that he said was related to how one feels when you have a fever.

I gave him some Advil, water and crackers and it was about all that I knew how to do.

I woke up this morning realizing that he is displaying all of the signs and symptoms that my daycare family went through before they broke out with measles. His vaccinations are all up to date and he has never had the measles.

This was when I finally consulted Dr. Google and read up on the measles. From everything that I read, the vaccination removes the risk of contracting the measles. I could find nothing to support my assumption that if you were vaccinated you would get a milder strain of the measles.

I walked through this morning convinced that a different strain of measles had reared its ugly head. I contacted the HealthLine to address my concerns and was advised to take my son to the doctor if he developed a rash ...

Moments ago, I heard the tell-tale signs that my son was awake. I went downstairs to check on him. He said that he is feeling better. A few minor things (perhaps related to the fact that he didn't eat anything last night), but the fever has broke. I made him my magical morning smoothie to replenish some of his food supply (how can you go wrong with strawberries, blueberries, banana, cranberry & orange juices and milk??) and I have a feeling that his super-immune system has kicked that bug out of his system. That is the purpose of a fever. Right?

This was a minor little scare but it opened my eyes to how vulnerable we are to the spread of contagious disease. If a super-bug or a different strain of a known epidemic were to strike, it could spread like wildfire. All I could think of, was the number of people that my son was in contact with when he went to school. You take those people and multiply that exposure to all of the people they could expose before they know they are contagious ...

There is much discussion about the risks of these vaccinations. But what about the risk of not being vaccinated?

We are so very fortunate to have access to free vaccinations. We live in a country where healthcare is a given. When our body is strong enough to fight the good fight and win ... we are very, very fortunate. We take these things for granted when everything works.

One chink in the armor is all it takes to change the outcome. 'Suit up' and forge onwards! May your armor be with you ...

 

Our cat excels in TLC! Me??? I snap pictures to document it instead ...