Pertussis outbreak?

Today, Sofia came home with a paper from the school stating that there was a confirmed case of Pertussis in her school. Wonderful. That is just what I wanted to hear. NOT. Sofia is 100% vaccinated. AJ is 100% vaccinated. Gianna is on her way to being 100% vaccinated. However, she is severely immunosupressed. Her body may or may not hold the vaccination for long. Pertussis is something that we can't afford to contract. Especially since we don't have a car to get up to Syracuse on the drop of a dime. I needed to find out more about this confirmed case of Pertussis. I need to know how likely it was that Sofia was near the infected child. If the infected child were close to my daughter, and possibly coughed on her, or did a number of other things to get her germs on Sofia, I need to protect Gianna. I need to know what our chances are.

I called the school first thing, and asked what grade this child was in. I was told the most ridiculous excuse of it being against the confidentiality to tell me what grade the child was in. I explained the situation with Gianna having the blood disorder. I explained that it likely meant I needed to get her up to have a transfusion. You would think she'd say "Oh, well the child was in 5th grade" ... or 3rd. Or whatever. Nope. Instead, she got snotty and told me that she "just isn't comfortable sharing such sensitive information." Really?? I'm not asking you the child's name, age, teacher, bus number, or where they live. I'm asking a general question. What. Grade. Is. This. Child. In? Is that REALLY that hard to answer?????? I (not so) kindly informed her that if Gianna became ill with Pertussis, I was coming after her, and suing her.

After that incident, I called the Health Department. According to them, they didn't even know that there was a case reported. One other mother called before me, and we're the only way they knew. They said they didn't know what grade, either. Unfortunately, that's likely true. I just wish SOMEONE knew what grade this child was in. I just need to assess my child's risk. It's really not THAT hard ... is it? Am I asking for too much?? I didn't think I was. It's just really frustrating. Sofia is doing fantastic in school, and can easily afford to miss a few days to keep her away. She'll bounce right back without missing a beat. But, now I'm not sure if the risk is there or not.

Tomorrow is AJ's 6th birthday. We have nothing special planned. The poor boy has never had a big party. We'll likely not do anything major. We'll have to walk to Walmart to get a cake for him. Something small, because I am not walking with a big cake in my arms. No way would I be able to pull that off. One of these years, he will have a HUGE party. Hopefully, that will be his motivation to behaving. We'll have to work on that as a goal for next year.

Gianna has been slowly getting sick for a while now. Today, it's full blown. I've done my best to keep her away from a massive amount of germs, but apparently it didn't help. The cold does NOT cause a cold, so I know damn well that bringing her out didn't cause it. I don't care what people say. A cold is caused from germs. Bacteria. Not cold weather. So, I know it wasn't because we took these insanely long walks the last 3 days.

Speaking of walks. It's been YEARS since I've had to walk far distances. I've had a car since 2004. All of a sudden, we don't have to car, and I have to walk. Saturday, we walked to take the kids to Grandma's. Then to Walmart to pick up some things, then back home. Yesterday, we walked to pick them up, and to Walmart again for things that we forgot on Saturday. Today, I had to walk to the Police Station to pay a parking ticket. Thanks to Ange, I now see the irony. Walking to pay a parking ticket. There went $10. After that, I went to Walgreens, then stopped at Dominos to reward myself with some Parmesan Bites (seriously, I could live off of those!). Came home, and called it a day. I decided to weigh myself. I've actually GAINED a whole pound since this walking. Not very encouraging. The rest of the week is supposed to be pretty cold. Doesn't look like I'll be out walking in it. Maybe I'll plug in the Wii and play some Just Dance with Gianna. She always seems to laugh when I play. Yeah, mommy can't dance. We know this.

Last bit before I forget. I ordered a beautiful headband from Designs By MRS on Facebook. She was one of the sponsors of a giveaway I did, and she is going to graciously allow me to do another giveaway! The headband came in today!! Gianna was SO excited when I showed it to her and put it on her. I can't wait to put it on her when we go out somewhere! You can shop her Etsy store here. My favorite thing about her shop?5% of all purchases will be put aside to donate quarterly to a variety of Down syndrome organizations!