Bittersweet

So, on Saturday, I posted about Tucker's amazing day at swim districts.
We later found out that he made it to state competition (which we call States) in all four of his events. So, in addition to the 200 relay and the 400 relay, he will swim the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle.
He's the first individual swimmer to make States in our school since 1952. That's a long time!

Of course, I was happy, thrilled, over the moon.
But, at the same time, I was sad because none of the other boys made it in an individual event, including Tucker's best friend Josh, who finished just behind him in the 50 free.
I wanted Josh to succeed too, not just for their friendship but for my friendship with his parents too.
It's just kind of awkward because I can't be too happy for Tucker or I risk offending parents whose boys didn't do as well. It's a fine line.

Here are Tucker and Josh swimming the 50 free next to each other. 

So, I was already feeling bittersweet about the results, on Sunday, when Tucker started to feeling ill. He coughed, he sniffled, he got chills. 

He said he felt better, and he went over to Josh's house for a while. Then he came home to take some medicine after he took a turn for the worse. 

"Let's take your temperature," I said.

102, the thermometer read.

I warned the swim coach that Tucker had a fever and that he would not be at swim practice the next morning if the temperature remained. 

The Advil must have brought his temperature down when I took it and let him go to practice. I was in the middle of teaching class when the swim coach called.

"I threw him out of the pool," she said. "He looks awful."

He did look kind of gray.

I asked Earl to make a doctor appointment for him and the nurse practitioner did a flu test and a strep test.

Tucker came back positive for Type A Influenza. 

Today he is home from school, lying on the couch with bizarre Olympic events playing before his uninterested eyes. He is too sick to play video games.

We started him on Tamiflu yesterday and hope that he will soon rally.

He's supposed to leave for States on Wednesday after school, if he makes it to school. 

And, I haven't even mentioned the high school musical, which is adding to his stress. He has the male lead. He will miss rehearsal the entire week because of his flu and being gone for States. 

So, I'm happy and proud of Tucker for his successes. But the arrival of the flu has thrown a wrench into everything.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."