Parents are not OK after three years of Covid and a brutal winter of RSV and respiratory illnesses

CNN
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With children returning to school and daycare after the holidays, weary parents fear what sickness might lie ahead during this time. brutal respiratory virus Season.

From October RSVoften the most Severe in young children and the elderly were hit early and cases began to rise rapidly. Influenza cases began to rise soon thereafter. COVID-19 It continued to spread and new subspecies emerged.

The CDC estimates that:

CNN told my parents Nationwide on this issue flu seasonThey canceled Christmas, missed going home to see their families, and pulled their children out of daycare to keep them from getting sick.

Below are some of their stories told in their own words. Their answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Michaela Riley from Issaquah, Washington

I am a single mother living in the suburbs of Seattle. I work for one of the big companies here. On the outside, I look successful. I have seniors in my title and I am constantly getting promotions and recognition. Inside, I was out of the stress associated with illness, never got a real vacation, and am now unable to meet my basic needs.

I had to work while on vacation and I had a child. my parents were going to see them. After that, I was infected with norovirus and canceled Christmas. Then my daughter’s father got a bad flu, so the backup plans for Christmas were cancelled. Everyone had healed, so we hadn’t celebrated Christmas until January 7th.

I have 4 and 11 year old daughters. Basically, all November one of us was sick. My kids got RSV and were very sick for 14 days. I didn’t have a vacation, so I had to work from home with them. It was a very long and trying time.

As a single parent, I’ve always focused on keeping all the balls in the air. to decide.

I took all my vacation time off because my kids got sick, I got sick, and I had to take a mental health day because I was completely overwhelmed since the start of quarantine. I’ve been using it. Last year I was planning to go camping with my family. Had Covid for the 4th time and had to cancel. I’m going to be a little silly

The group I work with has been very supportive and understanding of my situation. They really helped me in the worst of times.

The hashtag for 2023 is #BeFree23. Instead of focusing on my struggles, I focus on what’s going well in my life. 2023 feels better. I don’t think anything will change, but changing the way I think is the only thing I can control.

Jason Hecht from Ann Arbor, Michigan

I am a wife who works in primary care and a doctor who works in critical care.not only us Struggles on the part of medical workers with Huge demand this season But at home I have a much harder time.

The last month or two has probably been the most mentally and emotionally taxing of my life so far. We have a 2 year old and a 3 month old. It was our youngest who got sick about a month ago and was admitted to the ICU on a ventilator with RSV.

At the time, we were two months old, healthy and thriving without any problems in the world. I became calm.

I knew very well how serious his illness was. Playing the role of his father, husband and caregiver was difficult because he had too much pulling power to go into provider mode.

We had to turn our lives completely upside down and had to pull both children out of nursery school. We are still struggling to find a reliable source of child care that is safe for both of us, including our now vulnerable son. We are still paying for day care spots for both our children.

I’ve had a total of 6-7 weeks of PTO so far since this happened in November. This was also difficult because my wife was on maternity leave. Her maternity leave was almost unpaid, so she was already unpaid for three months. No maternity leave.

I am passionate about what I do and love being able to help people in ICU who are in the worst of situations. It was hard having to put all that aside to prioritize just being a parent now.

Adriana from Warwick, Rhode Island (She asked not to use her last name)

The only reason I only waited two hours in the ER was because my son stopped breathing. Everyone rushed to take care of him. His oxygen level was 73. My youngest son was 7 weeks old when he got RSV.

My soul left my body while I was in the hospital. There was a respiratory therapist, a pediatrician and two nurses who put my baby to bed and saw me start sucking all the mucus out because it was so stuffy I couldn’t breathe. They gave him oxygen.

I couldn’t believe how lucky we were that he responded so quickly to treatment.

Now I always carry a small oximeter with me. If you find it difficult to breathe, put it on your finger. It’s part of my diaper bag.

After my son was hospitalized for one night, and my deductibles and co-payments for my two children, I owe $3,000 from September to today. He only had his two doses of Tylenol at the hospital, which was almost $300.

Every time I called the pediatrician’s office, they would triage us on the phone to see if the child was sick enough to allow a visit because of how stigmatized they were. I’m constantly redialing for several minutes just to get through.you can see it when you enter the office they are all very tired.

I think there’s something overlooked in this country these days that has to do with children. lack of formulaMany parents like myself still struggle to find the right formula. My baby is allergic to cow’s milk proteins, so not all formulas can be given to him.

When I’m on vacation, I usually fly home. I am from Puerto Rico. But this year I stayed home. It was disappointing for our oldest son who was used to vacationing with his grandparents.

Mabubul Rahman from Lake Bonney, Washington

In the last 3 months, I’ve had 5 colds, 4 ear infections, 10 emergency room visits, and 4 emergency room visits. In these two years my child he only had a cold once.

This is our first child. He’s his Covid kid. He has been home for the past two years so he has not been exposed anywhere. This started happening when we started sending him to kindergarten, facing the scare of Covid, viruses like the flu, and RSV.

A child has a febrile seizure. His body temperature cannot exceed his 102 degrees and requires constant use of Tylenol and ibuprofen just to keep it under control. This is happening like every other week. I had an emergency one in my car in case I needed to stay in the hospital. We always pack our bags and put them in the car. as if it were still there.

I work from home and my wife is not working. Still, we feel exhausted. I think I’ve done 50% of her normal job well in the last two months. When my son and wife contracted RSV, my manager told me to manage my hours whenever I could work, not necessarily 9 to 5.

I was supposed to go back to my home country Bangladesh for the holidays, but I had to cancel the trip. We have not visited the house for the past three years. I did so in 2019, pre-Covid, but never went back because my wife was pregnant and had a child.

I hope this goes away and all is well this year. But I don’t think the fear and emotion will go away anytime soon.

Stephanie Archinas-Murphin from Lakewood, California

My 3-year-old daughter started pre-school in September and was indeed infected with 3 viruses (RSV, rhinovirus and pneumonia) at the same time. In the hospital she spent four days.

Just for her to come out and experience the world is so heartbreaking. We would like to have a different experience for her.

we got almost everything. Her eldest daughter got the flu, and so did her husband and I. We have been on this endless journey since her October.

When her youngest son got sick, she had to go out for three weeks. My husband had her out for two weeks just to take care of her. But her husband had no time off when he caught the flu after Thanksgiving. I have a practitioner and haven’t gotten her PTO, but had to bear the brunt and cancel a client. I didn’t have a paycheck so it was a dent in our income. Thankfully I have some savings so that helped a lot.

when i was less motrin When my daughter Morgan had the flu, I happened to post it on Instagram. My relatives asked if I wanted one, dropped off the Motrin and drove from about 40 miles away.

We cherish every single day. I don’t want to overwhelm myself. I’m not going to stop planning or going out, but I do keep in mind that things can change.