The flu hits!

Last Sunday Ron came down with a bad case of the flu, which has been making the rounds here (probably everywhere else too). He started out feeling a little queasy, and by 6 p.m. he was throwing up in the bathroom (I shut the door to muffle the sound of his retching). Besides being nauseous, he ached all over and generally felt terrible the next day. Then by Tuesday, he was miraculously well again: the flu had gone as quickly as it came.

Having no desire to experience the complete range of flu symptoms and not being able to rush to the bathroom via my scooter (it's fast, but not that fast), I decided to get a flu shot.  Walgreens had advertised them for months, but I had forgone getting one since I had a bad reaction to the shot several years ago.  However, the shot is different now --  the vaccine now contains dead instead of live virus. Of course, there are a million kinds of flu out there and the shot only protects against three, but I figured getting the shot was worth the risk after watching Ron suffer. It is really boring being sick.

I drove myself down to Walgreens Monday and told them I wanted a flu shot.  After looking me up on the computer, the girl told me my insurance covered it all.  A free shot! As I waited for the pharmacist to inoculate me, I wondered whether I should get a pnuemonia shot also sometime -- I didn't even know they had a shot for that and we people with MS can't be too careful.

Unlike some people, I have no aversion to shots or needles, although I did max out on the (what seemed like) hourly taking of my blood when I was in the hospital in September.  It got to be kind of creepy because the nurse would sneak in while I was asleep, then stick me with a needle before I was awake enough to object.  I was in the hospital so long they ran out of veins on my good arm and had to restick me in a place that had already been used. Put me off donating blood, let me tell you.

Anyway, the Walgreen pharmacist, a young, quiet woman, finally came.  She asked me if I was currently sick. "No but my husband has the flu and I sure don't want to get it!" I said. She did a double take and I assured her I felt fine.  After a few more questions, she gave me the shot, which didn't hurt, and I went on my way.

The week passed. I had no side effects or adverse reactions -- I felt great! I began bragging about how I didn't get the flu from Ron thanks to the great and FREE flu shot.  But, as often is the case, pride does go before a fall. After church today, I started feeling queasy. Not nauseous, but not up to snuff either. "That's how I felt before I got sick," Ron said comfortingly.  Uh oh.