Too Close To Home..

This morning I received a call from my mom, she told me that Terry, who is a friend of my cousins’ passed away this morning from the H1N1 Virus. I was stunned, I knew that Terry was diagnosed with the H1N1 Virus, but I didn’t know it was that bad. Apparently, two to three weeks ago Terry went to the doctor after having cold like symptoms, they ran some tests and diagnosed her with the H1N1 Virus. She was rushed to University of Maryland hospital in Baltimore and was kept under close watch. I guess last night things took a turn for the worse and Terry was put on life support, and she passed away this morning.

Terry was only 36! Way too young to die. She was a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend….I am at a loss for words. I did not know Terry that well, I knew of her through my cousins’, Jessica, Becky and Connie. They all were all very close growing up and Terry remained close with Jessica and Becky. I was (and still am) friends with Terry’s brother though and now Ricky is without a sister, his kids without an aunt.

For weeks now I have been freaking out about this H1N1 Virus. I have been washing my hands constantly – even more than usual (which was a lot to begin with), my hand sanitizer is reapplied I every two minutes. I make sure Cecilia’s hands are washed and that I try to keep her away from anyone who has a cold. Daniel and I have debated on whether not to get Cecilia the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available at our pediatrician. Neither him, nor I have ever even received the flu shot. Even when I was pregnant, I didn’t get one and I remained healthy. We are both cautious about vaccinations and will most likely have our pediatrician administer Cecilia’s shots in a different order then recommended after doing our own research.

At first I refused to even think about giving Cecilia the flu shot or H1N1 vaccine, neither one of my co-worker’s daughters have received a flu shot ever and they are both very healthy little girls. The H1N1 vaccine is so new and I know it has gone through a countless amount of testing and approval, but is it really safe to inject it into my 6 month old? It does not guarantee that Cecilia will not get the H1N1 Virus, but we choose not to give it to her and she does get the H1N1 Virus and becomes violently ill or even dies (I hate thinking about this), I won’t be able to forgive myself ever. Daniel is adamant about not giving it to her, but now I don’t know since this virus hit way too close to home.

What are you going to do? Are you going to get the H1N1 vaccine? Will you give it to your child?