How many colds have you gotten this winter?
@vera5d (4005)
United States
February 14, 2008 11:02am CST
We have been trying very hard to stay healthy this winter. My son got a flu shot in November, so this seems to help each year. We were doing very good with no colds since Thanksgiving, but now it seems everybody in our family is sick...my son was up all last night coughing - had to break out the vaporizer, the vicks chest rub, and some yucky medicine normally he fights to drink but was happy to take because he didn't want to cough anymore. (that's when you know they're sick!) The baby seems to have a runny nose also, though thankfully no cough/fever...my poor hubby working 70 hrs a week in the cold & snow is also sick...Somehow I am always the last to get sick, if i get sick at all.
Still though I am glad this is only our first cold so far being halfway through February...we have had winters when we were sick nonstop it seemed. I think this year it helps that I haven't been working...no sick kids in daycare & the preschool is pretty good about not allowing sick kids to come in...
How about you & your family? Have you been sick much? What do you do to try and avoid colds?
3 people like this
6 responses
@CraftyCorner (5600)
• United States
18 Feb 08
Thus far I've only had one illness. One is enough. I've been sick with this flu sense the first of February and it's now the 18. This thing's showing no signs of letting up either.
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Mom and step dad also had this flu, but they are recovering. I am the last in the family to get whacked.
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Everyone in my town seems to be sick. The emergency room is packed, people are lounging in the hallways, and the nearest doctor appointment is a month away. According to this map, Arizona isn't the hardest hit, but not one to get off Scott free either.
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http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2007-2008/images/usmap01_small.jpg
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@CraftyCorner (5600)
• United States
19 Feb 08
I am beginning to wonder if it's more than just flu myself. The ER Doc said my lymph glands are swollen in my throat. The earliest doc apt I can get is March 13.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
20 Feb 08
That is terrible!! There is a huge shortage of doctors I think - people are afraid of being sued, can't afford healthcare or to pay them, plus a lot of people don't want to go through 8-10 years of medical school...I would try seeing if you can maybe see a doctor in another area sooner...hope you feel better soon!
1 person likes this
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
18 Feb 08
wow...that is a long time to be sick!!! I would start thinking maybe it would be an upper respritory or sinus infection by then...that is a neat map you found there...I have been sick now for 3 days...I think this is the worst cold i've had in a long time...but hopefully it will go away soon.
1 person likes this
@secretbear (19448)
• Philippines
16 Feb 08
wow. it seems like its really pretty bad there. i hope they all get well soon. ^__^ i didn't really know that winter is that bad in cold countries.
i think i only had a cold once since our wet/cold season started. and whenever i get the colds it is sure to be followed with a cough and a slight fever. i think i usually get that once a year. but i get the regular sneezing every cold mornings which i think i got since i had my allergies. i seldom sneeze at mornings before, when i don't have my allergies yet. and when i started having allergies, almost always whenever i get up at morning, i would sneeze a few times, hard ones. ^__^;;
as for the family, they are just like me, they get colds and coughs only once a year. ^__^
@secretbear (19448)
• Philippines
17 Feb 08
oh that's bad. i hope you all get well soon. ^__^ our country is a tropical country and i'm just thankful that it doesn't get super cold here just like in the US, Canada or anywhere in the cold regions. but i don't like it here during summer because it gets really hot. .
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
16 Feb 08
i would love to live somewhere warm. Where we live it is cold from November through April...sometimes we might get a break and see a day that is in the 40's or 50's...but usually it is too cold for my liking!
I've caught the cold now, too...which isn't surprising when I have to take care of the kids, despite my constant handwashing and lysol spraying tendancies...oh well, hopefully this will be the last one for awhile. They say you are more likely to get sick in the winter months not because of the weather, but because you are always indoors with other people, making it easier to spread the germs.
1 person likes this
@AxranraRose82 (1120)
• United States
16 Feb 08
This year my boyfriend happened to not be feeling well the day his work gave out flu shots so he stayed home. And this year neither of us has gotten the flu yet! It seems to have the opposite effect on both of us so we avoid the shot! Every other year that he went to work on flu shot day he got horribly sick and passed it on to me. My kids have gotten colds and my two oldest got a bad virus where they were throwing up and had diarrhea but they recovered quicker than expected- they have always had awesome immune systems, especially my son who was only sick for 2 days. My daughter even escaped catching Croup which was running rampant at her preschool!
I am quite happy with how things have gone so far this year. I consider our family VERY lucky!
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
16 Feb 08
Croup was running rampant in my son's daycare last year also...it was awful because there is so little you can do for them...you guys are lucky to have escaped that! I will not put my kids back in daycare...parents do not consider others when they send their sick kid in...at pre-school the moms don't work, so if the kid is sick, they don't send him in just so they can go to work...
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
15 Feb 08
Working 70 hours a week in the cold and snow does sound like a recipe for getting sick. We have had zero so far which is usual for us. I work really hard at ensuring that our diet is nutritious and that we get a reasonable amount of fresh air and exercise and take supplements such as Ester-C and Astrogalus so we very seldom get sick, but I do remember times such as your hubby is going through where we just wore out, so to speak. Once when teaching grade school kids in the midwest there was a pernicious bout of flue that took out 2/3 of the students in my class, starting with the adorably cute little fellow who threw up in his Weekly Reader. The class was thus decimated for almost a full month, after which, when all of the kiddies were safely back to normal, I came down with it, fortunately over the weekend, but I did miss one day of school. That was a long time ago, though, before nutritional supplements were as readily available as they are today.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
15 Feb 08
Kids do spread germs like wildfire...I dread when my son starts kindergarten. I found out the source of our cold though...my son's grandma had him over for the weekend and they were all sick! It makes me mad that she knew they were sick and still had him over...sharing is good, but not when people share germs. I will have to check into ester-c, it sounds like something that would be good for us!
@suehan1 (4344)
• Australia
16 Feb 08
i have actually got the flu in our summer.the weather has been hot,then cold and because of all the weather changes i have had the flu,only 2 weeks ago.normally i am very healthy and would only ever get the flu about once every 2 years or so.cheers sue
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
16 Feb 08
I have gotten sick in the summer before, i think that is worse because at least in the winter the weather is terrible, so you feel less terrible about feeling terrible.
@Bonzy1322 (18)
• Canada
15 Feb 08
My husband is always sick, but my children and I are hardly ever sick. It's healthy eating and washing hands and the most important thing I swear by is sleep. As soon as I feel anything I goto bed early everynight untill it passes. I don't take medicines and hate to give my kids any, so with lots of sleep and good food we stay healthy.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
15 Feb 08
We try to eat healthy as much as we can, though it can be hard to get my son to eat anything...I think sleep is crucial, it can be so hard to get a good night's sleep!
