01/09/2026
It’s cold and flu season.
To most people, a cold is an inconvenience.
A few sniffles.
A sore throat.
Something you power through with chicken soup and tissues
But for medically complex families, a cold is never “just a cold.”
The sound of a cough is a threat.
It’s checking oxygen levels.
It’s counting breaths.
It’s packing a hospital bag.
And knowing your life could be turned upside down in a matter of seconds.
A cold means locked-down lives and a knot of fear tightening in your chest.
We’ve seen a runny nose turn into an ambulance ride.
We’ve watched mild symptoms turn into machines, monitors, and hospital stays within hours.
So when someone says,
“It’s just a cold,”
what we hear is,
“You don’t understand our reality.”
A cold brings trauma.
It brings flashbacks.
It brings sleepless nights where every breath is monitored, every cough analyzed, every beep feared.
It brings the memory of moments we never forget…
Watching our child struggle.
Watching the rush of people surround their hospital bed.
Wondering if this time will be worse than the last.
Or if this time will be the last.
So no, it’s not “just a cold.”
It’s a reminder of how fragile things can be.
Of how quickly safety can disappear.
Of how much we carry quietly every single day.
So, when you hear us screaming from the top of our lungs to stay home while you are sick,
this is why.
It’s never just a cold in our home,
it’s my child fighting for their life.
Written by: Carla Moore from Payton's Path
