This all started back in June when (I) Tanya was coughing for about 3 weeks before I got an antibiotic to feel better....that seemed to work. About 2 days or so after I finished my meds, Zach started coughing. This was about July 2nd. We left for Whidbey Island on the night of the 3rd. Poor Zach! He spent a lot of time during the day coughing but the most time at night, hacking away and not sleeping well. He had the same exact symptoms as I did. Well, things just progressed worse and on Sunday, July 8th I took him to urgent care. This seemed to be more than a cold....however, I really didn't expect them to say that he had PERTUSSIS/WHOOPING COUGH! Yikes! They did a nasal swab on him and they called me the next day with the results. This was on Monday the 9th. Zach had to be in immediate isolation and couldn't go outside until he finished his antibiotic. Jeff, Kylie and I all had to be treated as well for preventive reasons. Even though I had just finished my antibiotics, I had to take another round. Ugh! It's been a week of hell for Zach! He can't go outside or do anything fun until Friday. He did manage to get out last night and play some basketball around 9 pm or so because he figured no one would be out and he could get some air.
So, because pertussis is a communicable disease, the King County Health Dept called on Tuesday and after hearing about his symptoms and mine, they assumed that I was a positive pertussis as well that was undiagnosed. Well, this was probably the worst news we could hear! I told her we were on vacation with family and she asked if there were any pregnant people there or infants.....I said no, but do you know what I do for a living? As I told her that I worked in an ob/gyn office I could hear her wheels turning and it wasn't going to be good. We had to contact Valley and they told us to contact the 188 patients that I had contact with during the month of June and they would need to be treated too. Yikes! That meant a lot of phone calls and overtime! All of my co-workers had to be treated too.
This is a very scary thing as they warned us that we could be coughing for up to 6 weeks or more. I guess the next time I feel sick, I'll be calling in and they can just deal with it! This has been terrible! We are both still coughing, Zach's is much worse than mine as I think I'm over the worst of it...poor Zach though. It's been a struggle to sleep well when you cough all night long.
Tomorrow is a new day though and we are hoping that each day we feel a little bit better than the day before.
So, because pertussis is a communicable disease, the King County Health Dept called on Tuesday and after hearing about his symptoms and mine, they assumed that I was a positive pertussis as well that was undiagnosed. Well, this was probably the worst news we could hear! I told her we were on vacation with family and she asked if there were any pregnant people there or infants.....I said no, but do you know what I do for a living? As I told her that I worked in an ob/gyn office I could hear her wheels turning and it wasn't going to be good. We had to contact Valley and they told us to contact the 188 patients that I had contact with during the month of June and they would need to be treated too. Yikes! That meant a lot of phone calls and overtime! All of my co-workers had to be treated too.
This is a very scary thing as they warned us that we could be coughing for up to 6 weeks or more. I guess the next time I feel sick, I'll be calling in and they can just deal with it! This has been terrible! We are both still coughing, Zach's is much worse than mine as I think I'm over the worst of it...poor Zach though. It's been a struggle to sleep well when you cough all night long.
Tomorrow is a new day though and we are hoping that each day we feel a little bit better than the day before.
