I took Ricki to be vaccinated against swine flu a good two months ago, as she is considered high-risk. [Individuals with Down syndrome are high-risk even if they have no heart or weight problems, due to their narrow respiratory passages and their impaired immune system.] However, I was not able to get the vaccine until yesterday.
I had set up an early morning appointment, because I was planning mid-morning to take Ricki to a play in honor of Chanukah. A few minutes before leaving the house, Ricki expressed a desire to join me, apparently not wanting to stay home with nothing to do. So I agreed. On reaching the bottom of our stairs, I suddenly realized that it was a bit later than I had thought, and that we would have to walk quite quickly in order to arrive on time. Si I urged Ricki to speed up, and when she didn’t, I walked ahead of her. This had the desired effect within a minute, as Ricki ran to catch up.
Reaching the clinic, they were amazingly organized and received me on time. Then Ricki insisted on holding my hand, so that I shouldn’t be scared.
-“But I’m not scared….”
But Ricki was seemingly reveling in the role of being the “support” figure, so I let her.
Later, as we headed towards home, Ricki suddenly got the “BIG GIRL” bug. Rather than walk with me, she ran ahead some 30 strides, and constantly checked to see that I wasn’t catching up on her. (I confess that at one point I took a short cut just to peeve her, to discover that I was a bit closer………….)
At home I told her that big girls can also walk with their Moms; I had missed her company. And even though she agreed with me, I doubt that it will do any good…..
But I find the contrast of “hurry-to-catch-up”/hand holding/run ahead rather interesting, don’t you?
Showing posts with label Swine flu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swine flu. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Bird Flue, Swine Flue, and Down syndrome... and Faith
When we first started to hear about the swine flue, Ricki’s brothers started laughing at the fact that I was concerned at all. “Remember the ‘bird flue’? Another great way to sell newspapers......”.
“Excuse me,” I countered, do you realize that in these few days we have already gone WAY beyond where we were with the bird flue?” And that is true. The only good news is that it seems from the US statistics, that perhaps, especially with good treatment, the death rate may be low. But the statistics from Mexico of high rate of fatalities in the other-wise healthy population is worrisome....
But what I worry the most about is Ricki. How will this virus affect children and adults with Down syndrome? We have no idea. If this virus turns out to be hardest on those with poor immune systems, then they will surely be at bigger risk.
And I remember one tidbit from the bird flue scare (which I blogged about HERE and HERE):a little known pronouncement by those in charge (in the US) that in case of a real crises situation, any lack of medication would demand that medicines and medical services be given first to those who are otherwise healthy, excluding the infirm, and those with other preexisting “conditions”, including the mentally impaired and disabled. Israel currently has a meager amount of Tamiflu, enough to cover a bare 17% of the population. Such statistics do not bode well for the elderly or the infirm..... or anyone else not deemed as “contributors” to society.
Despite the irritating thoughts that all of this can lead to (“Why work to plan Ricki’s IEP if she (or we) may not survive?”, “Will I have to cancel my plans for the summer?”, etc.), I decided not to let my mental processes run amok. We have to limit what we worry about to things we can effectively work on, and control. We always seem to want to run our lives, and then something like this pops up to remind us that WE are not the ones in charge. And at that point, we are obligated to hand the reins back to G-d. Our job is to do the best we can with what life throws us. Nowhere is it stated that we get extra “brownie points” for unproductive worry.
“Excuse me,” I countered, do you realize that in these few days we have already gone WAY beyond where we were with the bird flue?” And that is true. The only good news is that it seems from the US statistics, that perhaps, especially with good treatment, the death rate may be low. But the statistics from Mexico of high rate of fatalities in the other-wise healthy population is worrisome....
But what I worry the most about is Ricki. How will this virus affect children and adults with Down syndrome? We have no idea. If this virus turns out to be hardest on those with poor immune systems, then they will surely be at bigger risk.
And I remember one tidbit from the bird flue scare (which I blogged about HERE and HERE):a little known pronouncement by those in charge (in the US) that in case of a real crises situation, any lack of medication would demand that medicines and medical services be given first to those who are otherwise healthy, excluding the infirm, and those with other preexisting “conditions”, including the mentally impaired and disabled. Israel currently has a meager amount of Tamiflu, enough to cover a bare 17% of the population. Such statistics do not bode well for the elderly or the infirm..... or anyone else not deemed as “contributors” to society.
Despite the irritating thoughts that all of this can lead to (“Why work to plan Ricki’s IEP if she (or we) may not survive?”, “Will I have to cancel my plans for the summer?”, etc.), I decided not to let my mental processes run amok. We have to limit what we worry about to things we can effectively work on, and control. We always seem to want to run our lives, and then something like this pops up to remind us that WE are not the ones in charge. And at that point, we are obligated to hand the reins back to G-d. Our job is to do the best we can with what life throws us. Nowhere is it stated that we get extra “brownie points” for unproductive worry.
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