I'm completely OVER all of this sickness that's effected the Borquez family this holiday season! My sweet Superman has finally gotten over his illness..it got worse before it got better. The virus caused a small place of pneumonia on his right lung. It was a very TINY area and was not heard when his chest was listened to. Thanks goodness I insisted on a chest xray. But now my little Logan has RSV. Yep, that's correct. I was a little panicked when his nose culture came back positive. I'm still a nervous wreck HOWEVER this illness happens to fall under the category of "this should be better explained to parents". As enlightening as doing your own research can be its also like holding your breath and waiting on the bad news. Thank God thats not always the case. RSV is an extremely common virus thats extremely contagious. Here's the status for you. 90% of ALL children will have had RSV by the time they are 3. 100% of children in daycare will develop it before the age of one. Why the fear factor then? Because it can be really bad for certain babies. Mainly those with risk factors such as premature birth, heart, lung, immune issues or if a child has an unknown propensity for asthma. So while its still a bit scary its more normal than not to contract it early. The most common age range is 2-6 months. I'm so grateful that he fell on the high end of the age ranges and doesn't have any risk factors. Since Logan was around absolutely no one except his big brother this is almost undoubtedly the same virus. The incubation periods and symptoms are a perfect match. In a way this makes me feel MUCH better knowing that Kal-el had RSV as well. WHY you ask? I had questioned why a "normal" run of the mill virus would effect Super so adversely and take take him nearly a full week to recuperate from. My main concern was that a random virus went to his lung. I had all sorts of immune system concerns. Those were put to rest with Logan's RSV diagnosis. RSV is notorious for causing all kinds of upper respiratory issues and pneumonia is certainly not uncommon. In other words, Kal-el acted accordingly to a virus that was a little more "mean" then what we thought we were dealing with. The thing is we would of never even known that the virus Kal-el was fighting was RSV without Logan's diagnosis because doctors don't routinely test anyone over the age of two. There is just no need. It doesn't cause the extreme adverse effects in adults and older children that it can in small babies. Often in adults it wont cause much more than a sniffle and clear runny nose.
So far so good with Logan. The virus takes about a week to 10 days to recover from. He's had NO wheezing, NO shortness of breath, and NO fever. :) They only thing I'm really having to stay on top of is keeping him suctioned out really well and keeping a close eye on his cough. For MOST babies this is typical and they won't get much worse then this. Yet another "fact" parents should be informed of! Since RSV is viral there are no meds that treat it. It just has to run it's course. According to my math(hold your laughter) we are on day 6 of the virus. Day 5 is supposed to be the worst so hopefully we have already been though the most difficult day. The biggest lesson I've learned in these past couple of weeks is ....I simply can not, no matter how hard I try protect my children from everything. This is especially true in regards to microscopical viruses and bacteria..no matter how much hand sanitizer and Lysol I fill a room with! I'm a stay at home Mom and I do try to keep their exposure to a minimal. The fact of the matter is thats not always possible and you can't just stop living and having fun. Further more the intellectual side of me realises that building a healthy immune system through illness is certainly not a bad thing but I guess witnessing Kal-el's seizure last year sort of made me go into a hyped up protective mode. Nothing wrong with that..I love my children but I'm going to ATTEMPT to relax a little more in regards to childhood illnesses. Better said than done so wish me luck....and to think this all started with a cute little blond that Super chatted up at med plus one Saturday. Maybe the bigger lesson is for Kal-el to watch out for girls. I have a feeling that will be my biggest worry in years to come. Until then I'll lovingly keep wiping little noses and losing sleep!
