Dr Today

I went to the Dr today and he thinks I have whooping cough! I'm not surprised because that's what I was thinking when I made the appointment. I didn't sway his opinion, however, because he said he thought it was whooping cough before I mentioned what I was worried about. He said in adults who have previously been vaccinated the symptoms are usually mild and the coughing fits are usually not that frequent, which is true for me. When they do hit, the coughing fits are really, really bad. I haven't been sick enough to haul myself to the Dr in about 5 years, but after the 2nd fit yesterday I called and made an appt right away. It took me so long to catch my breath that I was so dizzy afterwards and things were spinning, and I really thought I may pass out! So far, I haven't had another that bad.

Jon took the girls to the Dr because Marie was getting a cough too and not acting like herself. Turns out she has an ear infection. The Dr checked out Grace and Greta since they were there too and had been sniffly for a while and Greta has an ear infection too! Marie's cough is not worrisome at this point but since I have been diagnosed with whooping cough and she is too little to have had the full round of vaccinations we are supposed to keep a close eye on her. It could be really bad if she catches it at her age. If her cough gets worse, we'll take her back to the Dr right away. She just got her first shot for it last month so hopefully that will help but it supposedly takes 3 shots to provide full immunity.

Whooping cough is apparently making a comeback. If you are around babies very often or have breathing problems it is recommended that you get a booster shot. You all might want to consider getting a booster- especially if you are pregnant or hope to be pregnant because it is the babies that are too young to get the shots that are most at risk for serious complications and they are most likely to catch it from a close relative. Symptoms in adults can be really mild and you will most likely feel fine except for the cough, so if you have a persistent bad cough, you might want to go get it checked out just in case. Typically in adults you will have a mild cold for a week or so with no fever or a low fever. After that, you will start to get a really bad cough that won't go away with no other symptoms.