Here We Go Again :(

Yep, cold and flu season.

I'm dreading it, and for anyone who followed all my rants about my kids being sick last year, you probably know what I'm going to say next. I HATE SICK PEOPLE!! Unfortunately they are unavoidable with Jax in Kindergarten and Sunny in Preschool. That said, Lila is battling a cold right now, which while annoying, isn't that big a deal. Jax on the other hand has been sick for two weeks. He had been off his asthma meds and we thought he might be outgrowing it, but we were wrong. So, after a long talk with his Dr. he is on meds again, and might need a breathing machine (can't remember the real word right now.)

I don't want to offend anyone, and this isn't directed at any one in particular, so please no one get their feelings hurt. I just want to remind everyone that what is a simple cold for most kids is very dangerous to Jackson. Although his heart is doing well, he will always be at risk for sickness and infection. Because of his leaky heart valves, any infection he gets could potentially go to his heart and cause major problems for him. I know as he gets older it is hard to believe that he has something wrong with him b/c he seems so healthy, but he does. His heart will NEVER be normal.

Secondly, his asthma is worse than we originally thought. A little cold can cause major flare-ups that require steroids and breathing treatments for him. It could also cause him to have to miss many days of school, which obviously we don't want. Last December he missed more days of preschool than he made it too, which is really unfortunate.

We are taking as many precautions as we can for him (well all our children b/c we don't want any of them to be sick and spread it to the others). We have the kids change clothes immediately after school or church and wash their hands. We try to avoid indoor crowds (where germs are likely to be spread). We practice good (freakish) hand washing habits and don't share any drinks or food. The kids also take special immune system enhancing vitamins (don't know if they work or not, but I figure it couldn't hurt :).

What I ask of you is this:

1. Please don't send your child(ren) over to my house sick. Yes, I realize it's only a little cold that's going around but please.... It is so serious for my son.

2. Please understand if we are unable to go, do, attend, or be a part of an event b/c we consider it to be a danger to our children. We are following Dr.'s orders.

3. If we are going to the same place as you, please let us know if anyone in your family is sick or has been sick in the last few days. We don't expect you to stay home, but we need to know so we can make the decision if it would be okay for our family to be around the germs, or if we need to skip the event.

We would really appreciate if you could help us out with this. I know it sounds a bit over the top, but after discussing it with the doctor we feel that it will be beneficial to our family as we try to keep our children as healthy as possible.

Thanks.