Just in this morning: Minnesota has its first confirmed case of swine flu in Cold Spring. Pediatricians across the state are getting phone calls from worried parents and bringing their kids in, even those with just sniffles. Cribsheet spoke to three doctors on what parents should do. 

Dr. Carolyn McKay, pediatrician with Fairview Children’s Clinic, Minneapolis:

Common sense reigns. If your child is a little bit sick, leave them at home. Going to the ERs or doctor’s offices…that’s where the bad illnesses are going to be. Sleep at home, stay with the routine, play with friends and family, don’t change their routine.

If kids have a fever or if they have flu, whether it’s the old strain or new, do what grandma did. Stay in bed, watch TV, drink lots of fluids, take medicine.

If kids are having trouble breathing, or if parents are very concerned, then call your physician.

For kids who are well, continue sending them to daycare and school, all the places you normally go. Kids are going to do better playing outside in a park than coughing on each other inside.

However, going to the airport would not be something I’d advise anybody to do, or water parks, or the Mall of America…anyplace where large numbers of people gather.

If schools close, it’s much better if parents stayed home until they re-open.

People are going to act on fear. But there is nothing that tells us this influenza is different or more severe than regular strains of influenza.

Dr. Mark Schleiss, American Legion Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Minnesota:

We’ve been getting phone calls and questions and interest but I don’t think we’ve seen anything that looks like swine flu coming through the clinic.

The biggest concern is if a child has the signs and symptoms of illness associated with influenza, whether swine flu or not, consult a pediatrician to document the diagnosis, and see what parents can do to protect themselves and what treatments should be considered. It has to begin with consultation over the phone.

There doesn’t seem to be enough widespread activity around the state that would make me say keep your kids home.

In Cold Spring, the temporary closure is an appropriate preventative measure. For those in Cold Spring and the region nearby, they should probably avoid large-scale exposure to large numbers of people.

The situation is very dynamic from day to day. What we don’t know is just how aggresive and virulent this virus is.

As President Obama said. this is cause for concern but not for alarm. Be extra cautious, handwashing…certainly if you’re ill, you should stay home.

Dr. Marilyn Peitso, pediatrician at CentraCare Clinic, St. Cloud:

My clinic is 20 miles from Cold Spring. We’ve gotten lots of phone calls. Some people are very concerned and want to have their kids come in.

If you come in with symptoms, we put a mask on you and put you in a special hallway. The people coming in have had runny nose, cough, fever, which really qualifies as the common cold.

On Wednesday, I saw several more than I ordinarily would in a day, but it’s certainly manageable.

Good handwashing really is the core of it, not spreading illness. Stay away from malls and crowded places.

Look at the Minnesota Department of Health and CDC web sites. We really don’t know how things are going to go.

Two schools have been closed for the day in Cold Spring, about 80 miles north of the Twin Cities, because of a suspected case of swine flu.

It’s Minnesota’s first suspected case. As parents, we’re all understandably worried. 

Cribsheet sat down with Twin Cities pediatrician Dr. Peter Dehnel to talk about what to look out for with the swine flu outbreak.

Dr. Dehnel explains what we know so far about this very new virus - including symptoms to look out for - and what we don’t know yet.

Click here to watch the interview.

Dr. Stephen Jones, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic, was having a very busy day.  

“My staff came to me and said, what’s happening?” Jones told CNN. “Why are we suddenly having an explosion in guys asking for vasectomies?”

Whoah. We all know that many people have lost their jobs or are worried about losing them. So they’re taking their kids out of daycare, eating out less and forgoing the annual vacation, all to cut costs.

It turns out some are more literally going for the cut. Babies are expensive. Then there’s college to think about.

Since the stockmarket tanked last fall, vasectomies are up 50 percent at the Cleveland Clinic. People are not just worried about the cost of bigger families, they’re worried about losing their insurance and asking doctors to get them in quickly in case they lose their jobs.

Sales of other contraceptives are up too. Nielsen reported that condom sales were up 5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to the same period a year earlier. Condom sales were up 6 percent in January. This USA Today report implies that bad times put people in the mood for more sex but hmmmm, I’m willing to bet it has to do with more people trying to avoid pregnancy.

Cribsheeters, anybody thinking twice about a new baby?

(A long arm self-portrait taken in the parking ramp before I walked into the clinic. Those would be the eyes of trepidation. )

So as I said in the previous post - I opened the letter that I wasn’t expecting, “please come back in for a second mammogram.”
It knocked the wind out of me.
Peter assured me that they are just being careful and double-checking.
“Just having another look-see for reassurance.”
It doesn’t seem so daunting if you say look-see does it?
I called the clinic for mammo #2 the next morning and they got me in the same day.
Is that good? Or bad? Was there a sense of urgency or did they have a cancellation?
The appointment was over my lunch hour. I drank my complimentary coffee nervously in the waiting room. I noticed they had the “Matt & Maddy” issue of People in the racks it was comforting to have some “online friends” there.

I went through all of the motions that I went through the prior week. Changed into my robe. The nurse showed me the x-rays and pointed out a few areas they wanted to get a second look at. She said the doctor would analyze them right after the mammo and let me know how we should proceed. Did mammo #2 and went to another waiting room.

I was hoping the nurse would pop her head in and say - “Hey all clear - gather your things and go home.”

Nope. She came in and asked me to join her in the consult room. The room with the comfortable couch with the Kleenex box next to it.

Crap.

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I reached that magical age last summer where mammograms are supposed to start becoming an annual event but I was still nursing. Honestly, I don’t think I could imagine many things more painful than compressing a nursing mother’s breast between two pieces of glass. I don’t know why I fixated on it - but whenever I was late for a feeding and feeling like I was hauling around two bursting bags of gravel - I would think to myself ” I’d really hate to have a mammogram right now.”

But having heard the “Once you turn forty you need to get an annual mammogram repeated in my head for so many years - I called the clinic with an inquiry about my timeline. The nurse said I needed to wait a full six months after weaning to go in for the ‘gram. She said the results wouldn’t be accurate on a breastfeeding mother as the tissue is more dense and well, milky. As soon as I weaned I called and made my appointment far in advance.

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