It's Just a Virus

So we  have been sick...in an endless cycle of illness...since October.  In October, all of us caught the flu (I suspect it was H1N1 because the seasonal flu was reportedly not attacking yet) and since then we have all been in a slow cycle of mucous, headaches and fevers.
I have been in the pediatrician's office at least three times a month since that time and am beginning to think that our Pediatrician thinks that I have a bad case of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy! (In case you don't know, that is where parents manufacture an illness in their child because they crave the attention they get).  However, at our last spur of the moment appointment for a cough that just won't go away, our Pediatrician reassured me that this is just the course of this year's illnesses, and in fact, she has the same cough.  It made me feel better to know that the cough was not, in fact in my 11 month olds lungs, but it is so frustrating at the same time.
I dread hearing those four words from the doctor "It's just a virus.." and being given the advice to keep them hydrated, and have them rest.  I know that the doctor doesn't want to over-medicate our children and I know that there are problems caused by over-using antibiotics but I am so sick of wiping snotty noses, washing our sheets and towels in the hottest water possible, disinfecting my house and canceling play dates because every child in Southern Maine is transmitting this horrible never-ending virus.  I am at the point that when they get well I just want to put them in a bubble and keep them there through May.

So, until then we will keep slogging through this cold/flu season and work on hand washing, sneezing into our elbows, washing sheets and towels weekly, and I'm going to order two bubbles for my children-any idea how much they might cost?