“My kid’s sick all the time; what’s wrong with his immune system? Do I need to give him vitamins?  How do I fix him…now…I don’t have time for a sick kid!”

Ever felt like that?  Well, if you have, you’re not alone! And if you haven’t, what universe are you living in?  We all want to come, too!

So, first; does re-occurring illness always mean that TSK has an immune problem?

According to Dr. Fisher who is an infectious disease specialist at Monmouth Medical Center, children under 2 years of age have an obvious respiratory infections about 10 times a year, and if they’re in day care, up 13 times a year.  Now if each of those lasts about 2 weeks, your little Bundle of Joy will be transformed into a Bundle of Grump for , let’s see…. 13 illnesses times 2 weeks… hmmm…. That’s 26 weeks or half the year!  And kids older than 2 years can experience an average of 8 of those respiratory infections with up to at least 2 vomiting/diarrhea episodes, added in for messy measure!

So, weeks of illness are the NORM… not the immune deficient child.

But, here are some warning signs that might make your doctor test for immune deficiency; if your child has:

• had 2 or more pneumonias within 1 year,
• been on antibiotics for 2 or more months with no effect,
• had 2 or more serious infections like a blood infection, or even some serious sinus infections,
• needed IV antibiotics to clear an infection,
• a family history of immune disease,
• failed to grow properly (usually associated with re-occurring infections).

So, what to do for your NORMAL, but sick Bundle of Grump? Be sure his bodily needs are met:

• Plenty of good sleep, for age – check with day care and if he isn’t resting properly there, he may be at a higher risk for infections!
• Balanced diets

Dealing with stress! Yes, stress for TSK, as well as for you can make TSK more likely to get sick with infections.  The signs for stress that can cause illness in TSK include:

• Restless sleep
• Not smiling and engaging with you, as he used to
• Sometimes more spitting, or a change in his bowels

The signs for stress in parents can include:

• Restless or poor sleep
• Eating more or craving high carbohydrate foods
• Looking for stress relievers like substances (nicotine or alcohol or other drugs)
• Feeling sad or angry, and these get in the way of spending good time with TSK and other family members

What to do?

If you, the parent or some other family member is having problems listed above see your doctor right away; these things definitely affect you and can have a MAJOR effect on TSK becoming sick or nor growing well!

If you are worried about TSK with any of the mentioned items, see TSK’s doctor right away!

Give TSK a hug… and a little hand sanitizer, wouldn’t hurt, though watch to be sure TSK doesn’t’ “eat it”!  Gene