Sick kids

I spent Friday working from home with two sick kids.  Katherine had a fever earlier in the week and has a bad cough-we kept her home to rest and monitor the cough to see if she would need to go to the doctor.  Olivia got the fever Thursday at school.  I gave her Ibuprofen Thursday night before bed, around 7:30pm.  It had obviously worn off when she came into my room at 4am Friday morning muttering about hot chocolate and other random nonsense.  I think she was delirious with fever!  Then she came back in my room at 6am, almost crying because she was thirsty.  I told her there was a water bottle on the door in the fridge and away she went.  A few minutes later I heard her exclaim "This water is SO good!!!"  As if she had never had something that tasted so sweet, so fulfilling.  It was really funny.  She went downstairs and watched TV for a while.  She came upstairs a couple of hours later and I could hear her moaning as she came up the steps.  She came to me, crying.  Unusual...I asked her what was wrong.  She kept telling me her feet were hurting.  I asked her if they were asleep, but she insisted they were not.  I think she was feeling weak and achy with the fever and just didn't know how to interpret, much less communicate, how her body was feeling.  Poor little baby.  I hate when my kids are sick!

I began to panic when I took her temperature and it climbed up to 104.2 before the thermometer FINALLY beeped.  On the advice of the most knowledgeable people, my Facebook friends, I called the doctor for advice about her fever and aches/pains.  When I told them everything, they said they wanted to see her.  So I made the appointment.

Did you know that they can now TEST for the flu?  How long has this been going on?  Months?  Years?  Decades?  I had NO clue they could test for the flu.  Apparently many people have come in this week with symptoms of the flu, but most were not testing positive.  The high fever had the doctor concerned, so he tested her.  Guess whose kid has Influenza A?  Um...yeah...mine.  Check out the cool prize they gave her!

So, Tamiflu was prescribed for ALL of my kids.  Apparently if you catch it early enough, it can be very helpful.  Livvy's symptoms started yesterday, so she was in the right time frame to get it.  Everyone else in the household has a 60% chance of catching it.  The pediatrician advised Kris and I to call our primary doctor and get a RX as well.  I tried...but my doctor was out until Monday.  I will call back Monday and see if she will write me one.  I don't even know who Kris' primary is, so it is highly unlikely that he will get any.  Because I rarely get *that* sick, I may give Kris my medicine, since he DOES get that sick.  Anyway...I thought, great!  Finally a way to keep the others from getting it (though with her fever and coughing earlier this week, I think Kat started it), or at least, lessen the severity of symptoms.

What I didn't know is how expensive Tamiflu is.  To make matters worse, our insurance deductible started over.  And each new year, this impacts us.  Because we have an HSA, and a $2400 deductible...or is it now $2800?  I can't remember.  All I know is that we pay full-price (well, the insurance rate) until that deductible is met.  For all appointments, procedures, AND medications.  Tamiflu, for kids, is $89...EACH.  I paid for only 3 of them and thought I would have a panic attack after shelling out almost $300!  One of them wasn't ready yet, so I have to go back on Monday and shell out another $89!!  It was extremely painful.

Kris then told me that as long as we didn't have any other medical expenses before the next pay period we'd be fine.  Um...remember how I'm kinda crazy and need some crazy meds?  My appointment is on January 26.  Still in this pay period.  And I know from past appointments that it will cost $65.  And the medicine?  At least $150.  I am hoping that we can be billed for the appointment and I'll just have to wait until February 1 to get my prescriptions filled.  THIS is one of the reasons I keep going off of my medicine.  It's all well and good when our deductible is met and I just pay a copay.  But the beginning of the year is extremely hard.  *sigh*  I have come to realize that it doesn't matter how much it costs.  We have to figure out a way to make it work.  That much I know.