Do you get Flu shots? I do. I haven\u2019t always, however\u2026 I got my first one while in the Army, and I got at least one each of those three years. I could count on a mild case of the flu each time I did, too\u2026 For that reason, I stopped getting them once separated from active service.<\/p>\n
Fast forward a couple of decades\u2026 I was retired from work and divorced from matrimonial bliss, and I was living a dream\u2026 Riding around the continent with no plans, no destinations, no time lines or commitments\u2026 Just ALI and yours truly wandering and wondering at all there was to discover\u2026 and I started getting the flu every year.<\/p>\n
I labored under the assumption it was better to rely upon my own immune system to combat that distraction, than it would be to let it atrophy by relying upon external \u2018chemicals\u2019 to do the job. I was persistent\u2026 and I suffered each year, once usually each year, but then twice\u2026<\/p>\n
This was a major inconvenience to say the least! I not only felt really bad, I was forced to just stay put for several days at a time while trying to recuperate\u2026 It was torture to have to go to a drug store and buy over-the-counter products\u2026 and meals, when I was actually able to eat, became a major undertaking\u2026 Something had to give.<\/p>\n
In time, I came to buy a house in Alabama, and my life returned to a more traditional regime\u2026 but no change in the predictable annual flu bug episodes. It all came to a head when I came down with pneumonia.<\/p>\n
Napper took me to the emergency room of a local hospital, and four days later I was allowed to go home. That was it! From then on, I got an annual flu shot, and things definitely got better for this non-medical person\u2026 no more bouts with that dreaded malady\u2026 (Got pneumonia shot too.)<\/p>\n
I\u2019m currently in No-Head City, NC, visiting with my cousin\/brother. Last month he had some back surgery, and all went well. I\u2019d expected our visit would be a celebration of surgical success, a renewal of our life-long friendship, and the overall wonderfulness of life\u2026 Not quite\u2026<\/p>\n
Shortly before I arrived here, Nick came down with a roaring case of the flu\u2026 Despite the fact he gets annual flu shots like I do, he somehow became really ill. Our time together has been me driving him back and forth to doctors, running errands, cooking \u2013 I even made some chili for the first time ever\u2026 really mediocre stuff, but that\u2019s often the outcome whenever I stand at a stove\u2026 No celebrations this time, just suffering for him and patient care for this presently idled trekker\u2026<\/p>\n
We\u2019re now waiting to see if the antibiotics he was prescribed will enable him \u2018to turn the corner\u2019. He\u2019s really discouraged and tired of feeling bad\u2026 He\u2019s lost weight, has no appetite and no energy. I can\u2019t blame him, and I can surely relate to his condition\u2026<\/p>\n
Neither of us are particularly sanguine learning the hard way that flu shots won\u2019t make us bullet-proof. Must be some truth to the information that there are indeed different strains of that ailment, but the shots usually only combat one strain\u2026 Spooky, but\u2026 I\u2019m just mighty glad I haven\u2019t come down with any flu-like symptoms myself\u2026 so far!<\/p>\n
I need to get back on the road, and I do need to return to Florida soon to start rounding up information to file my taxes. Before I will do any of that, however, I want to see this through.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m glad I get those flu shots nowadays, and I will continue to do so. I\u2019m rocked back on my heels, however, at learning there is no guarantee I\u2019ll be free of that illness in all cases. Life is risky, and the best we can do for ourselves is to tilt the odds in our favor as prudently as we can\u2026 then to deal with what actually comes our way. It\u2019s also true that all \u2018bugs\u2019 can\u2019t be destroyed by riding a Valk\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you get Flu shots? I do. I haven\u2019t always, however\u2026 I got my first one while in the Army, and I got at least one each of those three years. I could count on a mild case of the …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meanderings-by-ddt-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions\/823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}