For months we have been warned about the dangers of Type A influenza, also known as H1N1 and Swine Flu. Here in the Ohio Valley region we have had some serious cases resulting in untimely deaths of otherwise healthy young adults – as a parent of a child with asthma, our fears have been heightened with reports of respiratory complications from this particular virus. As of this blog post, no vaccine is available in our area.
As H1N1 swept through my child’s elementary school last week we decided to keep her home for a couple of days and away from coughing, feverish classmates. In spite of that precaution she started coughing on Saturday and, by early afternoon on Sunday, had developed a low grade fever. Child + asthma + fever + congestion + H1N1 Pandemic = someone in need of Tamiflu. What is Tamiflu? Merely the only known treatment for influenza – it doesn’t claim to cure it – but it does lessen symptoms and duration of the flu: Tamiflu works by helping to stop the flu virus from spreading inside the body
But only if administered within 12 to 24 hours of the onset of flu symptoms.
So when I called our Urgent Care center Sunday afternoon it was with one goal in mind: getting a prescription for Tamiflu. The Urgent Care (a satellite suburban office of Children’s Hospital) informed me that they were capping off (not in the mafia sense – but at capacity because they could not contain anymore cases within the facility safely) all possible H1N1 cases and sending them to “base” (Children’s Hospital in Clifton – the main hospital on Pill Hill in Cincinnati). My next call was to the emergency line for our pediatrician’s office. Did I mention it was a Sunday afternoon? When I finally got through to a “person of authority” – not a doctor, not even sure if the responder was an RN – - and explained the: Child + asthma + fever + congestion + H1N1 Pandemic = someone in need of Tamiflu scenario – I was given the option of getting in to see someone on Monday. No Tamiflu prescription would be called in without a visit to the office to confirm the diagnosis. And a veiled hint (unfounded) that Tamiflu may be in short supply.
Grrrr. Panic. Anger. Frustration.
Now I love Children’s Hospital – they do not mess around. It’s medicine at its finest – logical, informed, best practices, the go-to source and – in my opinion – the only hospital you should designate on those health forms you have to fill out each year for your kids if you live in Cincinnati. We arrived around 5 p.m. and were whisked off to an overflow area (I assume was designated for any possible influenza patients) and masked.
The wait was long and I had plenty of time to ponder the state of health care in this great country of ours and reflect on the poor response from our suburban pediatrician’s office. I thought to myself – I’ll bet Ted Kennedy never had to wait 4 hours to see a doctor. Nope. And I wondered how much money it would take to have a doctor on call who could place an order for prescription meds over the phone based on a clear articulation of symptoms – and don’t say that isn’t done because it is – concierge docs in our area charge a flat annual per patient fee upwards of $1,000 for that privilege. I even wondered if it would be possible for me to go to medical school and get a license just so I could obtain antibiotics when I had a bladder infection or Tamiflu when my child was sick. Then I started to remember fondly the way medicine was practiced when I was a child – the one-physician office where the doc and receptionist knew your name and case file and would no sooner have you come in to the office during a pandemic than poke themselves in the eye. Did I mention we were there for 4 hours?
When my daughter was finally examined by a Registered Nurse practitioner she was diagnosed with Type A influenza and we were given a script for Tamiflu. Filling it was another problem (most pharmacies were closed by then and Kroger was out) – but we were eventually able to use our neighborhood CVS and administered the first dose at 10:00 Sunday night. This morning she woke up with a fever of 102 and I gave her the second dose of Tamiflu with Motrin. I am hopeful that getting the medicine quickly, within the 12 to 24 hours onset-of-symptoms window, will shorten the severity of this flu for her. Having had two doses of Tamiflu in her system before our pediatrician would even have seen her made the trip to Children’s worthwhile.
