Okay, someone in our house has been sick since the week before Christmas. Geoff has had the worst time of it. Of course he has been under the stress of having his Mom being ill and I know he didn't get much sleep the week before the surgery.
Anyway, I've been trying to come up with ways to break the cycle. I've washed all our bedding including blankets and quilts, I've scrubbed down the bathroom sink. I don't know what else to do. Now Kayla is coming down with the latest and Geoff has it again too. For now Erin and I are better having had it last week, but I woke up fairly congested this morning although after hacking up what had collected over night I feel a bit better.
I know every January seems to be like this for us, but it's exhausting and frustrating.
Katy
Help...Advice Needed
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
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kate_ce1995
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Hi Katy!
Good old fashioned regular handwashing is still the best way to prevent the spread of disease. Have the kids been taught the proper way to do it? Also, you could get a small bottle of bacterial gel for each to carry to use on their hands when they are not near running water. My niece (who has 3 kids ages 1-10) swears by the Chlorox wipes - uses them on the phone, doorknobs, toilet handles, etc.
I am also a believer in vitamin D to prevent infections. I take 1200-1600 units a day.
Unfortunately, having young kids in the house almost insures constant infection. Classrooms are hotbeds of disease!
Did you hear about the young lady who recently won the science fair by comparing the number of bacteria (E. coli) she collected/cultured in fast food restaurants from the toilet bowl and from the ice they used in their sodas? She found that 80% of the time there was more bacteria in the ice than in the toilet! I guess it's near impossible to avoid those little buggers!
Love,
Polly
Good old fashioned regular handwashing is still the best way to prevent the spread of disease. Have the kids been taught the proper way to do it? Also, you could get a small bottle of bacterial gel for each to carry to use on their hands when they are not near running water. My niece (who has 3 kids ages 1-10) swears by the Chlorox wipes - uses them on the phone, doorknobs, toilet handles, etc.
I am also a believer in vitamin D to prevent infections. I take 1200-1600 units a day.
Unfortunately, having young kids in the house almost insures constant infection. Classrooms are hotbeds of disease!
Did you hear about the young lady who recently won the science fair by comparing the number of bacteria (E. coli) she collected/cultured in fast food restaurants from the toilet bowl and from the ice they used in their sodas? She found that 80% of the time there was more bacteria in the ice than in the toilet! I guess it's near impossible to avoid those little buggers!
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Katy-
I second the doorknob thing! Ours are always sticky - I try to cruise through the house with those Clorox wipes when I can remember! And doing the phone and other frequently-touched items helps too!
Is it a respiratory thing or stomach bug?? My husband has trouble with respiratory stuff in the winter - I think it has to do with molds and the lack of fresh air in the winter when the house is closed up...I try to keep our master bath window cracked as much as possible so the moisture doesn't have a chance to build up in our bedroom. We are supposed to hit 70 this weekend, so I plan to thoroughly vacuum and air out the house!
It does get tiresome!! Also we up our vitamin consumption - I figure any way to get a boost might help the current bug choose to pass us by instead of take hold!
Hang in there!
Mary
PS Polly - That fast food experiment is SOOOO gross - I used to think "at least the drinks are safe"!!! I wonder if this includes the self-serve beverage bars where the ice is dispensed and people aren't scooping it?hmmm....
I second the doorknob thing! Ours are always sticky - I try to cruise through the house with those Clorox wipes when I can remember! And doing the phone and other frequently-touched items helps too!
Is it a respiratory thing or stomach bug?? My husband has trouble with respiratory stuff in the winter - I think it has to do with molds and the lack of fresh air in the winter when the house is closed up...I try to keep our master bath window cracked as much as possible so the moisture doesn't have a chance to build up in our bedroom. We are supposed to hit 70 this weekend, so I plan to thoroughly vacuum and air out the house!
It does get tiresome!! Also we up our vitamin consumption - I figure any way to get a boost might help the current bug choose to pass us by instead of take hold!
Hang in there!
Mary
PS Polly - That fast food experiment is SOOOO gross - I used to think "at least the drinks are safe"!!! I wonder if this includes the self-serve beverage bars where the ice is dispensed and people aren't scooping it?hmmm....
I saw that program Polly saw and I think the germs build up in the water lines that lead to the ice machines or the ice making machines themselves. It didn't have anything to do with scooping. I wonder what that means for all these home refrigerators that have automatic ice dispensers in their doors....
kathy
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kate_ce1995
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For the most part it's been a respiratory virus getting us. We had a stomach thing between Christmas and New Years but that seems to have cleared up. Funny Mary, but we are in the 20s or colder the last couple weeks and are desperately trying to put moisture into the air! Geoff and I have a humidifier running in our bedroom and both of us wake up stuffy if we forget to fill it before going to bed cold or not.
I'll try adding the door knobs, banister and such to the "wash down" list.
Katy
I'll try adding the door knobs, banister and such to the "wash down" list.
Katy
Kathy,
I suspect that we are generally safe from the things that are always present in our own homes, though the ice makers in other homes might be a problem, if they contain different germs.
I remember when a nurse was showing me how to "pack" my incision with gauze, (after my surgery), I asked her if I should wear plastic gloves, too, the way she was. She told me no, because our own germs won't hurt us, we're already immune to them.
I agree that washing hands, and watching out for all those germ transfer sites, (like doorknobs, handles, etc., is extremely important, if you want to keep all those hostile foreign germs from gaining the upper hand.
Tex
I suspect that we are generally safe from the things that are always present in our own homes, though the ice makers in other homes might be a problem, if they contain different germs.
I remember when a nurse was showing me how to "pack" my incision with gauze, (after my surgery), I asked her if I should wear plastic gloves, too, the way she was. She told me no, because our own germs won't hurt us, we're already immune to them.
I agree that washing hands, and watching out for all those germ transfer sites, (like doorknobs, handles, etc., is extremely important, if you want to keep all those hostile foreign germs from gaining the upper hand.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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artteacher
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There was a time, teaching HS, that I was sick for a full 6 months. I touched all the chairs and tables and worksurfaces that the kids did . . . So I started using the waterless hand cleaners, and taking vit C. I also stopped touching my face during the day. I rubbed my eyes a lot, and read that that was a really good way to transfer germs. Anyway, one or all of those strategies worked, because I stopped getting sick!
Good luck! Marsha
Good luck! Marsha
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barbaranoela
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Katy------U know everytime Lou and I get to AZ.---all we do is cough--cough and blow blow---???? sneeze---sneeze!!!
I dont know if it be the *dryness* here or what---
But I have heard !!AGAIN!!! another outbreak of a flu type thing???
Thats all they seem to have on their minds---Flu or the other TYPE thing!!!!
I hope U all start to feel better---and get DE-BUG outta the way--
luve Barbara
I dont know if it be the *dryness* here or what---
But I have heard !!AGAIN!!! another outbreak of a flu type thing???
Thats all they seem to have on their minds---Flu or the other TYPE thing!!!!
I hope U all start to feel better---and get DE-BUG outta the way--
luve Barbara
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control
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kate_ce1995
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- Location: Vermont
Here we go again. Erin spiked a fever yesterday evening. New bug 
. I have plenty of time off so I am staying home with her while her father and her mother work. Hoping this fever thing doesn't spread to the rest of us. Both girls have a cold again too and Geoff's hasn't let up completely although he isn't relying on nyquil anymore. Of course he is so tired by mid-day, but that might be because he hasn't been sleeping well in 2 weeks. I think the stress of having him Mom sick again is getting to him. He had a problem with insomnia when he was going through his divorce and into the first year he and I lived together. He hasn't had this problem in the last year and a half or so though.
I'm just sick of being around sick people (and being sick myself)
Katy
. I have plenty of time off so I am staying home with her while her father and her mother work. Hoping this fever thing doesn't spread to the rest of us. Both girls have a cold again too and Geoff's hasn't let up completely although he isn't relying on nyquil anymore. Of course he is so tired by mid-day, but that might be because he hasn't been sleeping well in 2 weeks. I think the stress of having him Mom sick again is getting to him. He had a problem with insomnia when he was going through his divorce and into the first year he and I lived together. He hasn't had this problem in the last year and a half or so though. I'm just sick of being around sick people (and being sick myself)
Katy