Why we get so uptight about coughs/colds and tummy bugs (and how it effects Max's cerebral palsy)

All toddlers/kids get bugs, it's part of childhood the building up of our immune systems right? It means something different for us though, for a number of reasons, when Max gets poorly, not only does he have the symptoms that you and I would experience, but he also is effected in a number of different ways too, Max's whole body is effected, his muscle tone changes, so where Max is usually stiff in his arms and legs etc he can get super stiff and this can be painful or really really floppy when he's unwell. This can mean that all the physical work we've been doing with him can go completely out of the window for a bit and we have to start all over, it also means that we miss all our classes/appointments, so all his physio and stuff he misses out on.

Also because Max has some quite complex feeding issues, he can be quite easily put off food. People with cerebral palsy have to use far more energy than us to do the simplest of tasks, max can often get too tired to eat enough when he is poorly, also for his own safety we have to be careful what we feed him when he's poorly because all his feeding problems get worse, so we'll spend weeks getting him up to eating say cheese on toast...etc, then he gets a bug and we have to take him straight back down to purée only we also have to thicken his liquids (drinks) just as a general rule anyway to stop him from aspirating (liquid getting into his lungs)  but when he is poorly we have to be extra careful with this. When he's better we can't go straight back to giving him the foods he WAS eating before he got poorly, we have to build it up little by little all over again.

Also understandably when a child is ill they want their Mummy. I mean if we are honest we ALL feel like that, we could all do with looking after when we're poorly! But for Max (I suppose it must be the same for all non mobile children) your Mummy leaving the room or even just your line of vision can be really scary, for him letting me out of his sight renders him completely helpless, he relies on me for absolutely everything, I am his legs, his arms when his wont do as they're told, I have to feed him, and even asist him to play, so if you think you've experienced a clingy poorly child, let me tell you you haven't until you've experienced the sheer panic of a non mobile 2 year old when he's poorly and his Mummy needs a wee/wants a cup of tea etc...needless to say I just take him with me, everywhere I go...so privacy/5 minutes to myself is out of the window, just  make sure he's safe, and let him cry' I hear the more hardened of you say? In the extreamly few occasions I've been forced to leave the room Max has got himself into such a tizz he screams until he begins to go blue and is sick! Hell if he's ill we don't even get an evening sometimes, he remains on my lap until I go to bed then sleeps with us, at the best of times he is unable to reposition himself/ has reflux/his limbs ache/his brain just won't switch off,  when he's in bed, so wakes often, but when he's ill It can actually be dangerous, if he were sick his body doesn't react like ours he can't just roll over and prevent himself from chocking on it or wipe his own nose if he can't breath.

PLEASE do not think for one minute I have written this post because I feel sorry for myself, because frankly how would you like a day sat cuddling on the sofa and watching kids TV, my little boy is the most loving funny sweet little boy and he's fantastic company. I'm just explaining why we might seem a bit OTT about germs/a bit other the top about coughs and colds, it's just it doesn't mean the same to us as it does to you.

 So you can imagine my joy this morning when I realised Max has yet another bug coming! 😡😭😩

*footnote didn't have an appropriate photo so I what unwanted germs drive me to! haha!
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