[Mammie]

How does one deal with sickness when you have a large family?

I know this must sound insane, but we got our rear-ends kicked. Ofcourse, this is only my second winter with having more than three people in the house, so I guess I should have expected it!

The whole family (husband, myself, 20 year old son, 8 year old foster son, four year old foster son and two year old foster son) in the past week, has been affected at least once with some type of flu virus. The cold chills came, the diaherriah, the vomiting, the joint aches, lots of mucus, etc. It seem to stay about 72 hours before leaving.

It started last Monday. All school aged children missed school for the whole week (they started Christmas vacation earily!) My husband missed a week of work. I got sick towards the end of the week. There was one day that the whole house was down and out! That was a little creepy.

As of right now, most everyone is better. The two year old and I still have some stomache issues, and have an doctors appointment tomorrow.

I have never went through something like this before. In the past, if someone got sick, it stayed with one person, or at least there was some 'time' between sick people! This virus hit hard, and wham, wham, wham, WHOA! Ding, ding ding! Round two coming up....

I tried to stay on top of the laundry (blankets, towels, pajamas, wash cloths) and disenfected messed up areas. I washed my hands and the toliet seat continuously...

Are there any 'tricks of the trade' for a large multi person household I do not know of?

Next time, I want to be militant and kick some flu bug heiney!

[lucyjoy]

Well, I told my kids that rule number one is noone is allowed to get sick. Mostly they listen, however, not this week. Four down so far but luckily mine are only doing 24 hour stints with the stomach flu.

I wipe doorknobs, phones, fridge handles anything anyone can touch with disinfectant as soon as the first kid gets sick and then just keep doing it. If one person is sick, everyone else gets vitimins, healthy food, and ealier bedtimes.

Other then that, I have no suggestions.

[jolean12]

I wish I had some advise as it seems at my house by the time the last person gets over it, the first person who had it has it again. I would love to figure out how to fix that one

[spaypets]

If it is really the flu, there are new antivirals that you can get from your doctor. Zinc lozenges, Zicam (it's a new product that my mother swears has kept her from catching a number of colds).

Wash everyone's hands, teach them all to sneeze and cough into a tissue or their sleeve and if they sneeze or cough in their hands, wash them with lots of soapy water (sing Happy Birthday before rinsing). Keep alcohol gel in your purse and use it after you handle money or touch the shopping cart handles.

Don't ever share glasses or eat off each other's plates.

Eat lots of fruits and veggies. Stay away from sick people.

[crick]

We too came down with the "Dominoe Effect Flu" last year. All 6 of us, just one after another. Took 4 weeks to really get over it all.

Here's what I learned...

Set up a mini clinic in a common area where everyone can be when awake. Separate blankets and trash cans etc. for accidents and have everything you need in the way of kleenex, meds, etc. set up somewhere in that room. For me, it made it a lot easier than running around the house tending to everyone, especially when I myself was sick.

Have a container of clorox wipes or other type of wipes with anti bacterial cleaning solution and wipe everything in sight, constantly, over and over.

No sharing of anything and everything that was said in above posts, double it!

Main lesson I learned....prevention is the best medicine. After we got through it last year, I made sure the kids washed their hands more often, use the sanitizer gel in public, multi vitamins, more fruits & veggies during this time of year, and I'm constantly reminding the kids to keep their hands away from their faces. I also air out the house more even in cold weather and make sure we all get outside every day.

Hope you are all recovered soon!
Crick

[roomformore]

Personally I don't think any amount of wiping with disinfectant is going to stop you from getting the flu if you are living with someone infected with it. I mean beyond washing your hands more often and not sharing utensils I really wouldnt bother with the other stuff. I mean you are going to be plenty busy cleaning up accidents. So far 5 out of our household of 6 have gotten it. I am the last holdout. I was so praying I would not get it on Christmas. I had it two years ago on Christmas and that was a really big bummer. If you can recruit a Grandma that has already had it when you yourself get sick that is a huge help.

[Rhubarb]

Do you know about echinacea? It's a fantastic herb, taken at the very first sign of "coming-down-with" feelings. I even found gummy echinacea in the kids vitamin section at Wal-mart. Lessens the effect of flus and colds, or stops them altogether if you take it early enough. Good luck!!

[Mammie]

Thanks for all the advice and prayers! Lord knows, we needed it here!

It's been a while since I have been able to reply to you all...but the household has finially recovered!

It took just over three and a half weeks! It seemed to cycle almost every three to four days.

No one was sick on Christmas day!

My husband missed a week of work. (He caught it three times) The 20 year old missed four days of work. (he caught it twice) The 8 year old (who caught it once - but also had bronchitis) and the 4 year old (who caught it three times) missed a week of school before vacation started. The two year old caught it four times and I caught it six times! WHOA!

Doctors just seem to think it was a normal flu bug! Drink pleanty of water, get pleanty of rest (yeah right! That is probably why I got it so many times!) It just about drove me nuts!

This just came out of no where. Uusally, we are a pretty healthy lot. Lots of homegrown, natural food, vitamins, herbs, fresh air. An occasional cold or runny nose, yes. But this was crazy!

Next time, I will definately be more prepared!