Immunity Breakdown

One of my biggest day-to-day fears with Dylan is that he'll get sick. So much so that we take extra precautions to minimize his chances of his contracting any type of virus. We wash hands often, we use hand sanitizer, we shower regularly, I disinfect doorknobs and other commonly touched household surfaces probably more often than I need to, and we avoid close contact with anyone who is sick, even if it's just the tiniest of tiny colds.

Why do I do this? Because Dylan doesn't get sick often (less than his brother and sister actually), but when he does, he usually gets VERY sick. His last simple "stomach flu" resulted in lethargy, a fever than ranged from 102 degrees to 107.1 degrees, multiple days of vomiting in which he was unable to keep anything down, including even water, and dangerously low blood sugar for days on end (because of the lack of carbohydrate intake). He was admitted to hospital for intravenous fluids, where he remained for a few days, until they figured out that he had also developed a secondary infection that required antibiotics. This virus-gone-hospital-stay has happened more times than I care to recall.

So it frustrates me hugely when we have had virus after virus rampaging through our house lately and the majority of them have been brought in by me! I have had at least 4 colds since September and to say it's starting to bug me would be putting it mildly. Just last week I had a brutal sinus cold for about 3 days. By Thursday I started to feel better. Then Saturday my daughter complained of a sore throat and runny nose and was sick all day Sunday and part of Monday. Monday night around 2:30 am (well, technically Tuesday morning), I awoke to discover I had the same symptoms, and here I am nursing my second cold in just over a week.

Sadly at this time of year, I have to blame my job. I am a substitute teacher and specialize in primary education, so mostly Kindergarten to grade 3 (though I teach anything from K-7). While I adore young children and love my job, 5-8 year old are not exactly the most hygiene conscious group. They are sticky, runny, oozing messes in winter, and their classrooms are loaded with germs, not to mention that I'm usually called in to cover for a teacher who is at home sick, so the germs are recent. Part of the job I suppose, and I know my immune system will strengthen with time, but for now, it sucks.