Category Archives: pandemic ahead

>Illness doesn’t have to be pandemic to matter.

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>The annual IEP (in Amigo’s words, the I Eat Pizza) went reasonably well. Amigo at 16 has become much more self-confident in these meetings, and he handled quite a bit of it himself.

We went out for supper, decompressed, came home. Amigo did his homework, took his evening meds (for acne and for anxiety/tics), and went to bed. Almost exactly an hour later, he threw up.

We are the type of parents who analyze, worry, and then analyze and worry some more on the way to our decisions.

Analysis: his IEP caused him stress and anxiety.
Worry: Maybe his stomach wasn’t fully healed from its recent illness.
Analysis: The acne medicine upsets his stomach. He tossed his cookies about an hour after he took it.
Worry: Maybe we should call the doctor and ask for a change in meds.
Analysis: Being sick scares him. His Asperger’s style logic doesn’t let him calm down and heal.
Worry: This adds more anxiety, which upsets his stomach more. Again.
Analysis: He was exhausted and lacked appetite already on Sunday.
Worry: Was this a sign? And we missed it?

Decisions:
Keep him home for a day, let him rest, feed him bland foods, monitor (and analyze and worry) throughout the day. If he’s up to it, we’ll shop for a low-dose over-the-counter antacid. We’ll re-introduce the meds slowly, on a full stomach, well before bedtime, after consulting the doctor.

Upon further analysis, his illness continued for days, weeks, and eventually months. The local pediatrician referred us to the Big Children’s Hospital for a specialist and heavy duty testing. Amigo went through a week of gathering lab samples, only to have to do the tests over because the local hospital’s lab didn’t like the Big Hospital’s containers. These tests (you guessed it) showed nothing new, eliminated nothing from the list of possibilities.

Next up was a three day stint.
Day 1: prepare for tests.
Day 2: Travel to Big Children’s Hospital for Day Surgery, as the tests take place under general anesthesia.
Day 3: rest, resume some normal eating, rehydrate. Maybe, just maybe, start doing homework.

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>To read, perhaps to think

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>Charles Schultz created a cute Peanuts cartoon many, many years ago that showed Charlie Brown home from school, tucked in with a cuddly blanket, saying “Happiness is being too sick to go to school, but not too sick to watch TV.”
From my perspective, contentment and calm come from being too sick to teach, but not too sick to read. As miserable as I’ve felt in the past week, the plus side is that I’ve been able to stretch out on the couch with a refreshing beverage by my side, vaporizer on the floor, cozy blankets all around me, and a good book in my lap.
I started with a re-read of the SuperMom books by Melanie Lynne Hauser. I like rereading. I get to refresh my experience with details I might not have noticed the first time, enjoy the hints and foreshadowing, and revel in the writer’s craft. I still laugh at my favorite parts, and I still want a few of those adorable scrubbing bubbles for pets.
I found a complete change of pace with All the Numbers by Judy Merrill Larsen. Maybe it was good that I read this slowly while under the weather. It’s not a book to rush through, to race to the finish. Instead, it’s a book to grasp, consider, examine. Moms face issues in ways non-parents might not understand, no matter how close they are to the families. This story isn’t about motherhood as much as it is about coping, recovering, grieving; facing truths that are not always comfortable. It’s intense and thoughtful, a rich and worthwhile read. But have a tissue box by your side — and don’t way I didn’t warn you.
I was about to start Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, something I picked up at the B&N book fair last weekend, but then Patry Francis’ The Liar’s Diary came in the mail so I piled into it instead. I’m only a few chapters in, but the part that’s struck me already is the importance of female friends. Guys may minimize this as “chick talk” or the “housewives eating bonbons” bit, but these friendships make our lives so much richer. A good quality novel, whether for women or by women, will have relationships (good or bad!) between women.
For example —
SuperMom: Carrie. Birdie needed her, and when they were on the outs, it hurt both of them.
All the Numbers: Anna. And more, but mostly Anna. With Ellen being on her own, no husband, even though her parents were emotionally supportive, her friends were her foundation, her rock.
The Liar’s Diary: Granted, I’ve just begun reading this book, only getting a taste of the characters and their relationships. but the friendship between Ali and Jeanne is ripe for growth. Both need a female confidante, both are different enough to be drawn to each other, and both are emotionally needy in their own ways. How that evolves, I have yet to find out.

If I get sick again (no-no-don’t-even think-about-it), I’d better make sure my lesson plans are up to date, and my home bookshelf is full. Better yet, there’s a blizzard on the way into town…the candidates will be stranded here, and (darn) so will I.

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>shoulds are bogus, or good intentions pave to road to you-know-where

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>

I should compost year round.

The reality: it’s too cold in our lovely winters. A banana peel placed in the bin in December will still look like a banana peel in April.

The end result: I feel mildly guilty throwing away coffee grounds, orange peels, and other biodegradables. Sigh.

I should have taken my own bags to the bookstore last weekend.

The reality: I didn’t. I had the bags sitting out on my dresser, and then I got caught up in my search for gift cards. I left without the cloth bags.

The end result: I left without the cloth bags. I realized it when we were checking out. Fortunately, I only needed one plastic bag. All in all, that’s not bad, but I really intend to make a habit of turning down the one-use plastics.

I should be exercising regularly.

The reality: I’m not. I was all set to start and then I got sick.

The end result: This too shall pass. Amigo has set a goal of exercising weekly, and I’m going to join him. Just — not today.

I should be eating healthier foods.

The reality: I’m feeling lousy and reaching for comfort.

The end result: I continue to pretend that lemon bars have enough vitamin C to have some nutritional value.

I should be resting and drinking herbal tea.

The reality: I’m wasting time blogging and drinking diet orange soda.

The end result: liquids are liquids, and they’ll help rehydrate my aching body and drippy nose. (More than you wanted to know, eh?)

Knowing that Husband missed three days of work with this virus, I should have made sub plans in advance.

The reality: Monday is a relatively easy day with a decent amount of prep time. I used my time to write sub plans for Tuesday and rest then.

The end result: It’s true. I saw the doc on Tuesday, and she told me I’d be sick for the week. Maybe I should have … no, let’s not start that again. I think I’ll reach for more ice water and yogurt.

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>Notes to self as family brings in the germs

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>Amigo was mildly ill last week. Now Husband is down for the count with similar symptoms: cough, cold, achiness, exhaustion. At school, one student was out sick today and two others should have stayed home.
At times like this, all of my germ-phobic tendencies start shouting at me.
No, don’t touch that kid’s computer mouse!
What do you think you’re doing, testing the keyboard connections yourself?
Now you’re headed for touching your nose — uh-uh! No, no, no!
Wash your hands.
Don’t touch that kid’s pencil. Use your own to revise and make notes on his paper.
Wash your hands.
The doorknob? Germ factory!
Wash your hands.

After school I went to the quickie pharmacy-convenience store and stocked up on all the goodies that Husband had requested. Cold/flu meds in both non-drowsy and drowsy, cough drops, Nyquil (by brand name, not generic, must be cherry flavor) and more. I spent $50.
Oh, okay, I also bought enough Valentine pencils for my entire class, anti-snore strips for me, and two paperback books. Note to self: always have a good stock of reading material on hand in case of sick day for yourself or as caretaker.
I made a trip to the grocery store on Sunday to buy lemon tea and honey for Husband’s sore throat, so Husband already had good hot beverages available. Note to self: start keeping this in stock as part of the standard pantry supplies.
And…I bought two different kinds of hand sanitizer. One is a nice lavendar scented bottle that I can keep in my desk; the other is a small purse-sized spray to carry with me in my, well, in my purse. Note to self; good move. “Be prepared” is the Girl Scout motto.
On that note, it’s time to pack tomorrow’s lunch with my daily orange. The vitamin C can only help.

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>Contingency plans

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>Recently, my coworker was suddenly taken ill and sent me an email with lesson plans for the day. The plans were basic, and a bit sketchy, so I dipped into my bag of tricks. My own contingency plans.
A few years ago (it feels like it was just last month), we lost a teaching colleague to bacterial meningitis. It was sudden and heartbreaking. It was also a wake-up call to the rest of us.
All teachers keep a Sub Folder. It has basic information such as attendance routines, a class list, schedule, other teachers who can provide support, and where to find the coffeepot. With our friend’s death, many of us started a new emergency sub folder. We thought, what if we had a car accident on the way to work? What if there was a family emergency? A tornado or fire? How about the possibility of getting stuck with a cancelled flight or being on the other side of a storm front, unable to drive? A sudden unpredictable illness?The possibilities were endless, even frightening, given what we’d just experienced.
Well, a kindred spirit (and companion in grief) suggested we come up with a set of alternate plans that a sub could teach on short notice. I saw the value in her suggestion and grabbed the bull by the horns. Hence was born my Emergency Sub Folder, subtitled “Activities with value for filling time.” One folder has 30 copies of several activities: word searches, spelling practice games, and basic math facts. The other has a collection of master copies; the sub would have to make copies, but there is enough to do that he or she could fill a day and keep the kids busy.
The last part of my plan is this: these folders are on top of my file cabinet, next to my desk, labelled in large letters “Mrs. Flowers’ Sub folder.” An substitute worth his/her salt could walk into my room, find the folders, and teach the day.
I’ve had these folders for four years (out of thirteen years teaching). It’s a little like carrying an umbrella, snow brush, or ice scraper; I hope no one needs to use them, but they’re ready.

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>Oh, the weather outside is…

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>Margalit of What was I Thinking and Mid-Century Modern Moms made me laugh yesterday. Boston has been snowed in, big time, and she talked about the French Toast Alert system. I had to smile. According to Margalit,

“the three items grocery stores continually run out of when a big storm is
announced are bread, milk,
and eggs. What can you make with those three items? Why, French Toast!
Clever, it is not?”

She even has French Toast Alert t-shirts! She grinds her own coffee beans, too, but that’s another story.
I can identify with this philosophy because a) I live in Wisconsin; b) I stock up when a storm is threatening; c) I stock up when the flu season is threatening; and d) I like French toast. When the kids were young and we had very little money, I made French toast often. It was easy and it was cheap. Bread from the day-old bakery store, eggs (on sale if possible), and a little milk, and we had a meal. Breakfast, brunch, or lunch, the family liked it and it was a piece of cake to make. Er, sorry for the mixed metaphor.
My shopping list today also includes ingredients for my annual Gifts in a Jar. I plan to give my co-workers brownie or cookies mixes in canning jars, all nicely wrapped in a (re-used, of course) pretty gift bag. It’s more time-intensive than costly, and my co-teachers will all enjoy the sentiment and the gift itself.
In summary (I’m teaching essay format in Writers’ Workshop right now, can you tell?), the grocery list today will include bread, eggs, milk, and basic baking supplies. Whether the weather be fair or whether the weather be stormy, I’m ready.

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>It flu the croup…

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>Score: attendance 21, tardy 1, ill 3. And those 3 — well, I’m beginning to wonder if I remember what they look like.

One missed most of last week and might be out the rest of this week as well.
One missed three days so far, and may miss more.
The child who was coughing yesterday was out today.
Two more were coughing today. Tomorrow? I’ll wait and see.

Last time I worked with a student teacher, she didn’t see the entire class as a whole entity for the firts five of her eight weeks. She learned how to handle make-up work, preparing it and then correcting and recording vast amounts of it later. It’s a useful skill; I can vouch for that right now. I had no prep time today other than recess, and I gave up one recess to keep a batch of kids in to finish their homework. Then I used the other recess (15 minutes, mind you) to prepare and copy the make-up work for three, leave one packet in the office to be picked up, gave one to a younger brother to take home, and then zoomed upstairs for a speedy bathroom break.
I keep hand sanitizer in my classroom and asked the housekeeper to refill the anti-bacterial soap dispenser. I’ll keep encouraging students to wash their hands and throw their used tissues in the wastebasket. Most parents have been reasonable about recognizing whether their children should be in school or not. That’s something teachers can never take for granted, so I’m very grateful for the families with whom I work.
And as for Christmas? Note to self: add a personal pack of tissues to each student’s gift pack. Hopefully, they won’t need it, and neither will I.

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>Notes to self in case of pandemic or bioterrorism

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>I did it again. I signed up for more training with our public health department. The latest session, about two hours, was at a local high school to learn the ropes at an actual flu shot clinic.

After I signed in, the folks in charge assigned me and one other volunteer to another registration table. Our job was to hand out cookies and bottles of water to the volunteers as they arrived –with no opportunities to wash up first.
Note to self: bring hand sanitizer or antibacterial wet wipes next time.

As the majority of the volunteers were dispersed to their stations, complete with water bottle and cookie snack, we were relocated to the communications trainer. This trainer was a local police officer who was in charge of two things: training volunteers in using the radios and finding a channel that would actually work in all the clinic stations throughout the high school building. They had already tested two channels unsuccessfully; our group was to try the third. He taught us the basics, helped us find the assigned channel, and then showed us how to wear the police-style radios and shoulder microphones.
Note to self: if assigned to communications, wear a belt. A strong one. These radios are heavy!

After communications training, our group joined another batch of workers at the exit station putting together bags of information and supplies. As people exited the shot clinic, they picked up these bags to take home. The supervisor told us she hoped to make up at least a thousand such bags. I don’t know how many they made before my group arrived, but I know the seven of us packed up several hundred. Typical of teachers and school staff (as were all the volunteers tonight), we streamlined the process to make it more efficient. If we had to spend time on our feet, we were going to be productive, darn it.
Note to self: wear comfortable shoes — very comfortable shoes.

We then returned to the registration table, this time to check people out and collect their “uniform” vests and name tags. These blue vinyl mesh vests were so ugly (how ugly were they?) that more than half the people handed them in with a sarcastic, “Oh, I don’t get to keep it?”
Note to self: don’t worry about wardrobe. The vests will make anything look bad. And in a crisis situation, no one will care.

The time went quickly. The explanations made sense. Trainers explained not only how-to, but also why. I liked knowing the rationale behind the structure and the plan. The trivia fiend in me enjoyed hearing that emergency planners looked to Disney theme parks to figure out ways to move large numbers of people efficiently.

Of course, I hope this kind of emergency, pandemic or biological attack, never happens. but like first aid and CPR, it’s a type of necessary skill that no one wants to use. I’d say, “Bring it on!” but I really don’t want to see a health emergency, flu or otherwise, reach these proportions.
Note to self: get flu shot. Soon.

Update: Yesterday, I got my annual flu shot (ouch). The people at the registration desk were crabby and hated the long lines; the nurses were wonderful and thrilled that so many people came.
Note to self: it’s good when a lot of people want a flu shot. Stay friendly and courteous.

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>The Flu Flew Through

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>Today’s timeline:
5:30 — alarm, I wake up,
shower, feed rabbits, get breakfast on the table
6:05 — Amigo gets up, gets dressed, comes down for breakfast as is routine.
6:20 — Amigo hugs me.
Mom: “Hey, kiddo, you feel warm.”
Teen: “I feel achy all over.”
Mom: “Hmm. Let me take your temperature. 101.5 — you’re staying home today.”
After a brief discussion, it was determined that I would stay home with the sick boy. I zoomed off to school, left sub plans, checked in with a couple of key co-workers, and came home.
Since then, Amigo has only left the couch briefly to use the bathroom. He has sipped copious amounts of water and other refreshing beverages, but has wanted nothing to do with food. Ibuprofen is not bringing the fever down. He has a hacking cough. He is exhausted. The only effort he makes is to reach for his drink and occasionally wake up and change the TV channel. In fact, he slept all morning and on and off all afternoon.
Everything points to influenza.
I have homemade chicken noodle soup in the crockpot. He won’t want to eat tonight, but he might eat the leftovers tomorrow or Friday.
Poor guy.
I’m feeling a little under the weather myself. I hope my annual flu shot keeps the worst at bay. Meanwhile, I’ll keep drinking liquids and washing my hands and resting.
Pandemic? No. It’s just the family. We’ve coped with this before, and we can cope again. but all things considered, I might add a few stock-up items to the grocery list in case things get worse. I mean, we did miss the blizzard this time. We might not be that lucky the next time Mother Nature unleashes her power.

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>I’m not the only one fending off pandemic fears.

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>One of my wonderful friends at work told me that another of our leaders has been deluged by emails asking if we have a plan in place in case bird flu hits our workplaces. That got me thinking again. Remember the lines in Beauty and the Beast?
Gaston sings, “I’ve been thinking.”
His henchman responds “A dangerous pastime.”
Gaston: “I know.”
So…I’ve been thinking again. Are we ready if a major illness hits our locale? Local news talked about it a few days ago. The topic came up over lunch today.
The answer: pretty darn close. We have a good stock of canned food in the pantry. My freezer is packed. I can add a few stock-up items to the shopping list next week if I feel really panicked, which I don’t.
Some years the annual influenza strain hits hard, and some years it doesn’t. If a true pandemic hits, it won’t hit tomorrow. It’ll give me a few days, more likely weeks, to stock up. From a practical standpoint, I’m more likely to be stocking the shelves for my foot surgery than for a pandemic of avian flu.
So I’ll keep washing my hands regularly, cover my mouth when I cough or sneeze, and stock the medicine cabinet with anti-inflammatory drugs. Oh, I stocked up on those last week.
What am I thinking? I need to sit down, relax, and stock up on good fiction instead of canned soups. Heck, I should be picking up snacks for the Super Bowl! And that’s ten days away.

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