His H1N1 episode

Day 1 – Saturday 24 April 2010


He started the day with a very slight cough, like a ticklish cough. By 9am, his fever started. Thankfully, I decided against attending a seminar on Handwriting skills, to monitor him. He vomited a few times during the day. His cough worsened during the night.

Day 2 – Sunday 25 April 2010

His coughing increased, to the extent it interrupted his sleep. It sounded different from the coughs he normally has – it was dry. I brought him for nebuliser at the hospital in the early hours, but didn’t see the medical officer there.

We brought him to the GP in the morning. GP listened to his chest, looked in his mouth, took his temperature. He said it was the flu; his throat was not sore; his lungs were clear. He prescribed Voltaren (a fever reducing suppository), Bisolvon (to dissolve the phlegm), Azithromycin (antibiotic – just to prevent secondary infections, cos he understood our concerns). He didn’t think it was H1N1.

Btw, he also suggested migrating to NZ where the air is so much cleaner than in KL, as that would probably help my son.

A few more incidents of vomiting during the day and night. Cough turned quite bad during the night. We had interrupted sleep. I was worried. He was coughing a lot more and very strongly. He was suffering.

Fever came down after I inserted the Voltaren, but went up again when it wore off. That was the case for the next few days until Wednesday. No point giving him Paracetamol as he was vomiting quite a bit.

Day 3 – Monday 26 April 2010

In the wee hours of the morning, I brought him to A&E, for nebuliser, and to see the medical officer there. I explained his history in order for the doctor to take his case more seriously. His tonsils were swollen. Listening to his lungs, he thought it was bronchitis (but no wheezing). If there was wheezing, it’d be pneumonia. I asked if it was H1N1 (because it turned bad faster than normal and it sounded different), but he didn’t think it was. Thankfully, the doctor took my concerns seriously and took a nasal swab for testing. After his nebuliser the doctor said that it sounded better.

I was still worried. Instincts and past experiences told me that this is episode was different from the rest. One lesson I learnt after he was taken seriously ill when he was 1 month old, was to trust my instincts on medical matters relating to my son, no matter what anyone else thinks.

So, I brought him to see his paediatrician when the clinic opened. His Dr heard him coughing just before we entered his room. He immediately said that my son has croup. It’s caused by a virus, and it swells up the trachea and bronchial. It sounds like a dry barking cough. He didn’t hear any phlegm. He didn’t think it was H1N1. He was asked to do 3x nebuliser daily. He said I could stop the antibiotic as my son started a slight diarrhoea. My son’s tummy is a bit sensitive to antibiotics.

His vomiting continued. He didn’t drink much milk. He was off solids. He wasn’t drinking much water either. I started to worry about dehydration. I started packing a bag of his stuff, just in case he had to be admitted.

Day 4 – Tuesday 27 April 2010

He was coughing even more. So, again in the wee hours, I rushed to the hospital for another round of nebuliser.

Later in the morning, a nurse called my husband to say that the results came back positive. My son has H1N1! I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, what to think. A good friend from the PSG happened to call just minutes after I received news of the results. She prayed for us over the phone, and was so kind to offer support of bringing us lunch etc.

I dropped by the paediatrician’s clinic for him to check my son and to get the anti-viral medicine (Flu Halt). He said that so long as I was able to nurse him at home, there was no need for him to be admitted. He increased the nebuliser to 4 hourly and that was physically hard on me, having to drive him there, find parking, carry him from the car to A&E cos I was already drained from carrying him so much and being sleep deprived the past few days.

Since the early hours of Sunday, I would ask the nurses if there were single bed rooms, just in case. The answer every day, was that there was none (but there were 2 bedded rooms). I think that, the car park being quite full even at 5am was testament that there were a lot of sick patients.

His cough was better after his first dose of Flu Halt, during the day. Then it got worse again when it wore off. His second dose at night, didn’t seem to have much effect. He was coughing badly again and we didn’t sleep much. He was suffering badly.

Day 5 – Wednesday 28 April 2010

Husband and I brought him to see his paediatrician in the morning because he wasn’t really improving. Husband was given a few days off because of my son’s H1N1. The doctor seemed worried and asked that he be admitted.

Thankfully, we did get a single bedded isolation room, otherwise we might have had to go to other hospitals like HKL or Hospital Sungai Buloh. Being on the Premier floor, it was more expensive than the normal ones, but it was very nicely done up. It felt like a nice hotel room, and nothing like the hospital rooms he was in before. That also played an important role in his recovery. In the past, he would refuse to stay in the normal rooms, crying badly, and wanting to go out ALL the time. This time round, he said he wanted to go home only a few times, and that was when he was feeling much better.

He continued to cough with the same intensity but less frequently. He continued to have interrupted sleep due to his cough. He was on the nebuliser 4 hourly.

Days 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – Thursday to Monday 3 May 2010

He slowly improved with the anti-viral, antibiotics and nebuliser...and lots and lots of prayer support! Friday night was the first night he slept right through, and that was when I knew for sure that he was improving. When the doctor did his round on Saturday, he was happy to discharge him the next day. But we wanted to play it safe, so I requested to be discharged on Monday instead.

I got to catch up on my sleep on Friday and Saturday nights and during his day time naps. By Saturday night, I was on my laptop searching for information on suitable schools for my son.

We’ll be staying away from school this week. He is still coughing and is still weak.

Lessons learnt

- Continue to trust my instincts (perhaps not just on medical matters) coupled with lots of prayer of course. If I hadn’t emphasised his weak lungs and history, or had my H1N1 concern addressed, he wouldn’t have gotten the right medicine. Note that all 3 doctors didn’t think it was H1N1.

- H1N1 is prevalent in our society. Most of the time, if the individual is normal and otherwise healthy (not a high risk category), he would have recovered with rest and simple medicines to treat the flu like symptoms.

- It’s really hard to get a child to drink milk and water when he absolutely refuses to! Forcing him didn’t work. Explaining it to him didn’t work. Getting angry with him didn’t work. In the end using the “carrot” instead of the “stick” approach worked, as did distraction using the TV.

Thanksgiving items

- To God, for my son’s recovery without major complications despite him being in the high risk category. Also for protecting us from catching the virus despite my son repeatedly coughing into my face and everywhere else!

- To my husband for his support. He stayed with us every day for a few hours, bought meals for the maid in the hospital and my sister at home, brought clothes etc to the hospital when needed, ferried my helper to and from the hospital, etc.

- To all those who supported us through prayer every day. You know who you are! That definitely eased my mental stress.

- For not needing to worry about the side effects of the H1N1 vaccine, as he no longer needs it.