Wednesday, September 30, 2009

To Drug or Not To Drug

I have come to the conclusion that I am allergic to Arizona. Maybe not the entire state but at least the northern section. Maybe it's the cooler temperatures. Maybe it's the towering, majestic, beautiful trees. Maybe it's the lack of emissions in our neighborhood. Maybe it's the lack of fast food in my system. Whatever it is, I am allergic to something.

For the past week Dylan and I have been fighting allergies like I've never known. We have all the classic symptoms: sneezing, running nose, congestion, red and itchy eyes. I give him Benadryl hoping he will sleep it off and it does the opposite for him. He refuses to nap - ugh. I skip the Benadryl because it does make me sleep - sleep like the dead. I take Zyrtek which has been my wonder drug until now. Now my allergies laugh at my attempt. Last night I reached my limit. I called the clinic and they gave me the go ahead for some Benadryl on top of my Zyrtek. It did help me get through the night without being bothered by allergies. It may have been that I was sleeping like the dead by nine o'clock! Great night time option but the day is going to be long. I just don't feel right about making Ethan babysit his brother and mom all day while I'm drooling on the pillow!

On a some-what unrelated topic, the school sent home a permission slip for the flu shot for my kids. All the kids can go in and get it for free. For some reason, the flu shot always freaks me out. My Grandpa Larson said Grandma had some sort of reaction to it when she got it about thirty years ago and he warned me against taking it. Do I dare? Do I not dare? I've never had my kids get the flu shot and they've been okay so far but this year and this location is a bit more scary to me. We have tourists from all over the world carrying who knows what here year round. Our medical care isn't the most comprehensive, although I've been impressed with the clinic so far. I was on the fence and then I saw that if you haven't had it before, you need a booster shot a month later and I thought that was a bit of a hassle not to mention the boys will remember in a month how it felt getting the shot in the first place and I'm not sure I can lift Tom and Logan in the car and strap them down fast enough to get to the clinic. Do we do it or not?

The news had stories of healthy kids dying of the H1N1 virus and that is really frightening to me. I know the flu shot I'm talking about doesn't protect from the H1N1 virus but for me it's the first step to overcoming my fear of the flu vaccine. I'm sure the school will be offering the H1N1 shot in the future and I guess I need to make my decision. Who knew that being the mom would be so hard some days? To drug or not to drug? What's your answer?

2 comments:

Burrups said...

I feel your pain. My allergies are terrible too! I always get a flu shot and it helps and this year we are all getting one. I am nervous for flu this year especially for my kids. Scary!!

The Gray Gang said...

I have always been anti flu shot. Last year we all got the flu HORRIBLY. It was ohhh soo bad (tremble)!!! This year, I dont know what to do. THe H1N1 is 2 additional shots to the Flu shot. Plus, the baby can't get any shots. Do we all get poked a dozen times to keep it away... does it really work? HEELLLLLLLLLLP!