oh, what a day

swine flu update: i checked on swine flu case #2 (aka "fever boy") at 9:30am and found his temperature at 39.6 degrees celsius (103 degrees fahrenheit - where it had been overnight when my coworker larry was on duty).  let me tell you that it is terrifying to check on him one hour later and find him wearing a sweatshirt in a hot room, short of breath (breathing like he'd just run a mile), dizzy, and his temperature at 40.7 degrees celsius (105.2 degrees fahrenheit).  terrifying...especially when the doctor has just told you on the phone that a temperature above 40 means you can't wait it out anymore and you need to go to the hospital.

how do people have children?  it's too much responsibility!

he went to the hospital, has tamiflu, and his fever is back down to 38.3.  i don't even know what that is in fahrenheit terms - it's not normal (36-37 degrees), but it's not in the danger zone any more.

if i didn't have swine flu already, i probably do now after half an hour of contact time with fever boy while i took his temperature, walked him to the office, rubbed his back to try to comfort him, and gave him lots of water to drink.  

this is what we call karma, people - mock swine flu for three months as media hype and you somehow find yourself on an ordinary saturday in july halfway (a quarter of the way?) around the globe trying to get a kid to the hospital as fast as you can without alarming him.  (note: i refused to convert 40.7 degrees celsuis to the fahrenheit scale for him because i knew it would freak him out and doubted that he could make the conversion on his own in ordinary circumstances, let alone with a fever.  oh, the small victories.)

i'm taking myself out to dinner...before going back on duty for the dance tonight.  if you kiddos try anything funny tonight, beware the wrath of claire...