{you have got to be kidding me}

***WARNING***
There is a lot of anger and cursing in this post.  Move on down the line if you don't want to read it.

Remember that hacking/coughing/diseased 3 year old I mentioned that was at the bbq the other night?  We're pretty sure he's got pertussis/whooping cough.  I'm FURIOUS.  I sat and talked to the mom all night with my babies wrapped up on my lap.  This kid hacked and hacked all night and she kept saying "oh he's not contagious"  to all the moms staring at her wondering why he hadn't been to the doc yet.  After talking to her and putting the puzzle pieces together, I'm pretty sure what she described and what I saw was Pertussis.  Mother F*CKER.

I called the nurses hotline tonight to see what the course of action should be-since the CDC recommends starting antibiotics asap.  The twit that called us back said she wasn't worried about it and he probably just had a bad cold or something.  Um, thats not good either you nit wit.  She said they'd put them on antibiotics if the child was in our home and they were repeatedly exposed to the disease.  We have a pediatrician appointment Monday (still in the treatable incubation period-I hope) and I'm going to insist we all go on antibiotics.  My babies are 10.5w old and they were preemies.  I can't take any chances.  Pertussis/Whooping Cough is particularly severe in infants.  They've only gotten ONE dose (of five) of the pertussis vaccine and even fully vaccinated they only have about 80-85% protection.

No, we don't know for sure what the child had.  From the mother's description of her child's progression with the illness, I'd bet my life on the fact that its whooping cough.  I grew up a town over from an 1800's children's whooping cough cemetery, I'm kind of jaded by this disease.  Its "highly contagious" and particularly "problematic" in young infants who aren't fully vaccinated.  Great.  Just great.  Of course all night I've been pacing, googling and praying like mad that A-they don't have it/or the kid didn't have B-we will catch it early enough with the antibiotics that it won't be symptomatic or it won't be severe or C- this is just a night mare.  If I ever see this mother again I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need to be restrained.  I'm about 99% sure we're going to contact housing about this, normally I'm not *that* girl, but I'll be damned if I let that infected child run around passing a potentially deadly illness on to unsuspecting kids.  The county sends out notices when someone has been exposed to it so they can get on antibiotics.  Its not something you mess around with.

All night the mom sat there telling me about how strange the cough was.  How he got it as soon as they moved to CO-a month ago-and how it started out as a cold and became this horrendous cough.  Basically describing the CDC and AAP definitions of the progression of whooping cough.  I really don't know what to do.  I feel so helpless.  The babies were mostly covered up when they were around them, except when we were inside. He wasn't inside when we were most of the time, but I keep trying to recall if he ever came in contact with the babies.  Our neighbor held {M} and she could have been in contact with the boy, but mostly M and I held them and kept them covered tightly.

I'm just mad.  Mad that this woman recognized that her child was sick (even if she didn't think it was serious) and didn't take him to the doctor because she was too busy doing something else <thats exactly what she told me.  Ask M, he was sitting right next to me.  I'm absolutely bleeping terrified.  They are in the highest risk age group and they both had premature lungs and issues there.  What are the chances this kid has some freaky form of altitude asthma?  I'm VERY pro-vax, but this isn't about that.  Its about keeping your sick child at home so he doesn't infect other people.  Yes, even if you and your incompetent, ridiculous husband have to miss out on a night of drinking and debauchery.

If you're the praying type, PLEASE keep us in your prayers.  This is a somewhat rare disease that is on the rise here in CO and is particularly hard on infants who aren't vaccinated or who aren't fully vaccinated-it can even be deadly.  Lets hope that they are at least a *teensy* bit immune :(