Colds at the Culbertsons

The last week has been a tough one for us Culbertsons. Last Tuesday (over a week ago), Claire started feeling a little feverish and lethargic, then a runny nose ensued. By Thursday, she wasn't getting any better and her eyes started leaking this horrible gunk - make that gushing...her eyes were all swollen and looked like she had been in a fight, then would get stuck shut when she slept.

Meanwhile, being in close proximity, Caroline starts exhibiting the same symptoms, but isn't far enough along for a doctor's visit. Claire visits the doctor on Thursday to find out that she has an ear infection plus conjunctivitis. We start her on amoxicillin and eyedrops (which cost $80 for a half ounce - the bottle is the size of a quarter).

By Friday, Caroline's eyes start oozing, then I feel like I'm getting a sore throat, typically the start to symptoms of a cold. Over the weekend, I take Caroline to the urgent care clinic, where they find out she just has a cold and slight conjunctivities, but no ear infection. Eye drops follow.

Meanwhile, I'm hanging in there, but Paul starts getting a sore throat around Saturday or so. The girls are still fighting their infections, not doing that great, and by Sunday, we are all four just sitting around. By this time, I'm usually feeling a little better, but when I wake up on Monday, I'm worse, and Paul is worse. He goes to the doctor and starts a Z-pack, and I just think in my mind, "Well, I usually have 1-2 really bad days w/a cold, so I'll just wait it out." Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....no changes. By Wednesday, I'm feeling like I have the flu - achy, chills, feverish, congested, headache...so I finally go to the doctor and start my Z-pack.

I finally slept through the night last night (thanks to Claire crying about every two hours the last 4-5 nights because she sits up and then gets "stuck" and can't lie back down), but didn't wake up as refreshed as I'd hoped. I'm just praying that Z-pack kicks in today. I don't think I've ever had a sinus infection that has dragged on this long. I feel like we've all been slammed with the cold tsunami and we're just trying to survive!