January Thaw

We've had quite the warm streak the past few days, and if the predictions hold true tomorrow will be the warmest yet.  I'm pleasantly surprised that we didn't get blasted with a.) a massive nor'easter/blizzard or b.) insanely heavy rain that would cause flooding this past week since it was Farm Show week, and many years in the past we've been hit with big storms.  Hooray for uneventful weather!  The downside is all of our snow is basically gone.  Not that there was a ton left to begin with - mainly the gross, dirty piles caused by the plows and whatnot.  Many would disagree with me, but I hope we get a fresh coating so we can go out and play in it.  As long as it's not on the day we have our appointments, I'm cool with it.

Judith started out the week with some disappointment since we took all of our Christmas decorations down last weekend.  We traditionally leave everything up until Epiphany (sometimes until the weekend after depending when the 6th falls), and since it was actually on a Sunday this year it kind of worked out nicely.  Judith got used to seeing the tree in the living room whenever she came downstairs, and when it wasn't there anymore she was trying to figure out what happened to it.  Even though we didn't do a ton of decorating this year, it was still neat to see her reactions to everything and explore the ornaments and lights.  I was proud, too, because she generally left the tree alone and didn't try to undecorate it too often!

I had a subbing day this past Thursday, so Judith got to spend some time with her Pawpaw.  They had a blast together (like always!), and it was a good change of pace for both of us (even though I was essentially walking into a petri dish at the school because the illnesses are hitting hard).  I was kind of glad for the diversions since it took my mind off of everything else that's going on with her.

The worst part of the week has been the news reports of the flu epidemic.  I'm germophobic to begin with, and this has set my anxiety over the edge.  I've been keeping Judith at home as much as possible, and trying to avoid crowds.  I know eventually we won't be able to avoid this stuff, and won't have the luxury of staying home all the time (like when she's in school), but right now it's very much a personal situation for me of "old habits are hard to break."  I think if the strain going around wasn't so virulent and if the vaccine was offering greater protection I'd feel a little differently.  I'm even nervous to take her to her appointments, especially since we have to go into the main hospital for the ultrasound.  I highly doubt Judith'll keep a mask on, but I'm really going to try to get her to wear it for her own sake.

Antibiotics are Done!

Fingers crossed that we can avoid respiratory infections for a while.  So far, so good - we finished the Cipro for Judith's sinus infection this morning, and the congestion and cough are gone.  We dropped her CPT and breathing treatments back to the normal schedule, and her appetite seems better.  Knock on wood, it looks like we avoided some of the antibiotic-related diarrhea this time as well.

There's still a long way to go before we get to the end of cold/flu/RSV season, but I'll take as many healthy days right now as we can get!

Tis the Season

I have a love-hate relationship with this time of year.  I love the holidays (having 2 birthdays to celebrate - mine and Judith's - helps too... as much of a pain as gift buying can be haha!), but I despise the germs.  It's turning into an interesting time when we're out in public, and it's going to get super interesting at home now that it seems like both John & I are getting colds.  I'm really hoping that Judith will have some protection since she just finished round 2 of antibiotics on Saturday, but we'll have to wait and see.  In the meantime, we're doing extra hand washing/sanitizing, and are trying to keep Judith away from our faces.  Thank God for the Synagis - she'll have some protection with that.  But I can guarantee the first moment I notice any symptoms I'll be on the phone with her pulmonologist to find out what our next step should be.

We finished decorating the house for Christmas on Saturday.  The tree is up and decorated, and looks nice in the corner of the living room!  We haven't had the 6 ft. tree up for a couple years, and it felt good putting it up again.  Judith really hasn't been super interested in touching it, but loves looking at it - so far, the herding away from the tree technique has worked just fine.  We'll see how long that lasts - we intentionally avoided any breakable ornaments this year just in case.