Catch a cold or flu this season?

Just curious how everyone else fared this season, and what kind of bugs have been going around. Myself, no flu, but I caught some kind of nasty respiratory bug that stuck around for nearly a month. The ol' lady thought my symptoms were similar to those of the whooping cough, doubt it though. Now, just a few weeks later, I've caught one of the worst head colds I can remember having, or severe allergies, not sure which.

No flu though, that's what matters! The last flu I had was one of the worst experiences of my life.

 

For me, no flu shot=no flu. Last time I got one (for swine flu), I was in the hospital for 9 days. Other than that, strangely enough, I didn't catch anything this year.
Enjoy!

 

Nothing. And there was who was waiting for Ebola ...

 

Sigh. Flu shots can't give you flu. Flu shots don't guarantee you won't get flu and obviously not getting a shot doesn't guarantee you will. Flu shots can occasionally cause reactions, some of which can involve flu-like symptoms (which are quite common symptoms anyway).

 

Nope. Caught Leukemia though

 

True, but when they give you the shot they're injecting you with the flu so you can build up tolerance. In the meantime, you're susceptible to everything else that's out there.
Enjoy!

 

God... sorry to hear that. Stay positive, best wishes for you.

 

Hey, thanks. I am in remission now so I can make light of it.

 

I can't remember the last time I had the flu and I do not get the flu shot. When the flu season hits, I avoid crowds as much as possible and wash hands often and really eat healthy....works for me.

Did pick up a hellacious cold many months ago and that time I did what I had said I'd do if I ever got another one. The only 'medicine' I took was a shot of whiskey w/real honey and lemon in it. I don't drink, so had to really force it down and that whiskey really has a 'bite' to it, but believe me - IT WORKS! Within a few minutes I could feel my achy head and clogged, unbreathable nose start to clear up, went to bed and woke up feeling 95% better......

Whiskey is what worked for our ancestors and it still does - it has medicinal value in it. I believe a lot more in old time remedies than Nyquil and all this other OTC crap that doesn't do anything except cost you a lot of $$.......

 

Good for you. All the best.

 

Thank you for that

 

Lol, it either works or you just don't care after a few shots.
But seriously, hand washing and staying away from crowds as much as you can is very important. Sadly, some people are very ill mannered and don't cover their face when coughing or sneezing and happily spread germs around.

 

Very sorry to read this. There's different kinds and hope you have the curable one. About 6 yrs ago my daughter had a bout w/leukemia. Don't remember what kind, but they hospitalized her fast, in hospital for a month getting chemo..... she's been cancer free for about 4 yrs now.

I know there's a leukemia that's very slow moving... a friend's aunt was diagnosed w/it about 20 yrs or so ago.... she's now 94 and will be gone soon.......

Take care and good luck......

 

Hey, Shang - the whiskey does work. I highly recommend it! But you have to put honey in it (REAL honey. The stuff in the store that has an expiration date isn't real. Real honey never goes bad, it'll last forever) and lemon juice. Those 2 are healing ingredients also.....

1/2 of my head just ached and couldn't breathe. After I finally choked the rot gut stuff down, within a few minutes the pain in my head started going away and I could start breathing again.....I was surprised. I gag just as much on Nyquil, so might as well gag on whiskey. I like old time remedies. Got acid reflux? Forget the pill and take a tbsp of apple cider vinegar every morn and eve and that's one of the healthiest things you can drink..... got a cough that won't go away? Drink natural pineapple juice from the pineapple itself......

My daughter who had leukemia and I started really researching foods and health issues. Wow.... there's so much good info out there.

I know what you mean about the rudeness of people, coughing & sneezing in your face. They're all over the place.....

 

Thanks Hummingbird. I had/have CML. Caught early enough, it can be controlled but never really cured. My WBC was 94,000. So you know what that means. It hadn't accelerated to the blast phase. That would have been ACL or acute like I assume your daughter has. They stated me off with Sprycel but I almost went to the hospital because of the side effects;,skin tuning grey, I couldn't walk straight or add 2+2. And the back pain was off the charts. So my oncologist put me on Tasigna. Much better. A ;little flushing, itching and minimal abdominal cramping but tolerable. So now my WBC is 6,000, in normal range. But man oh man, if you do not have insurance or do not qualify for the manufacturers discount program, you pay $140,000 a year for Sprycel and $90,000 a year for Tasigna.

Glad to hear good news about your daughter HB thank God. I'll bet it scared the crap out of you when you first got the news. My wife and I freaked.

 

Hey there H.
I love old true and proven remedies. Honey has to be straight from the beekeeper and local, nothing else will do.
Did you know that it helps with allergies to consume local honey? It also sweetens much more pleasant than refined sugar. Agave syrup is my next choice.
Sadly, nothing seems to work for my acid reflux problems. I tried it all. Now its eating only in the morning, select juices/supplement and water later, stopping in the afternoon. I sleep in semifowlers and do whatever I can.

 

Yeah..... I crashed when she called me, crying, said she had leukemia. I knew she hadn't been feeling good, got tired very easily, but never tho't of cancer. She picked me up and told me to quit my bawling, that she was going to be ok.......and she is.

There's crappy drs out there, but there's also great ones - she had an excellent team of drs. I was shocked that from her dr to a specialist to an oncologist, they had her diagnosed on the 10th day.... and this included blood work from here to Seattle and back. The next day she was in the Ptld hospital. The cancer cells were still in clusters, which was the 1st stage - perfect for the oncologist......

When she & her husband were called into her dr to be given the news and told to take her pick of hospital - Seattle or Portland - SIL asked the dr why this happened to her and the dr said 'bad luck' which is true. No one never knows what's in store for them.

I learned a lesson. My hunny worked hard and played hard, always in good health, never a medical problem..... time goes by and I noticed he was getting more and more lethargic, but figured he's just getting older. Then one day when I heard him refuse a fishing trip w/his buddies, my antennae shot up. To refuse a fishing trip was not Tom - he was born a fisherman. he had cancer called Multiple Myloema - no cure. 2 yrs later he was gone.

Then my daughter, a young mother was getting to tired to often. She had cancer..... from now on when I hear of a healthy person getting to tired and lethargic for no apparent reason, the bells & whistles will be going off in my head.

Not familiar w/the info you gave me, but thank God, you can control it. And yes, I know about the cost......wow! My daughter's hospitalization and treatment was astronomical. SIL's insurance took care of a big chunk and his mother, who's wealthy, helped them, so they wouldn't have such a financial pinch...... daughter will have to do what they call maintenence for the rest of her life - blood tests to make sure it hasn't returned. She went thru her hair loss, bought a $100 wig, but then said 'to hell w/that!', put her ball cap on her bald head and off she went and donated her wig to the cancer center. Her dr was going to issue her a 'handicapped' tag for parking and she refused it, said she'd walk it and she does. Yeah, she's coming along great......

And she made a big change in her eating. We researched foods and what an education we got. If you're not doing it, try to go organic. The processed foods - boxed, canned, frozen, instant junk and fast foods is so unhealthy - no nutrition in it at all - nothing but presevatives, chemicals and a ton of sodium. My daughter found out that if she eats 'bad' - once in a great while she & hubby will go out for a pizza or restaurant food, the next day she feels awful and her back hurts, but when she eats healthy, she feels good and no back pain, so she's pretty much has quit even the occasional 'bad' eating.....

I remember reading the long, long list her dr gave her after leaving the hospital of 'do not's'.....no swimming, no gardening, no eating left over foods or foods that sat out for awhile, absolutely no pumping gas - that list was long.

Keep up the good work, Publican. We never know what kind of a curve ball life is going to throw at us, do we? But you're tough and you're smart and you're going to be fine......

 

Aw damn! I'm really sorry about your acid reflux. Never had it, but friends have and I know it's miserable..... there has to be a sure cure for it, some how, some way. I read a lot of health articles and will keep that in mind. A friend's husband died from it, BUT Kurt would not take care of himself - he ate everything...... that was bad for it.

I can't remember the last time I bought refined sugar - yrs ago. I stock up on honey from our local Farmer's market. That bee dude loves me.

My daughter is a representative of Melaleuca and I buy practically everything from them - supplements, household cleaning stuff, laundry soap (no chemicals in it), soaps, shampoos, etc. I'll ask her if there's anything there for acid reflux. I know there is for fibromalgia. A friend bought it and said it really helped.......

I wonder if pure/virgin coconut oil would help acid reflux? It's loaded w/health benefits........

 

Thank you for the encouragement HB. Very, very sorry to hear about your hunny. I had something similar going on for about 7 months. Lethargic, weight gain, loss of interest in things. Then on 12-30 last year I finally go in for a blood test/exam. Two hours later the doc calls and says get into the hospital, your white blood count is 94,000. I knew that a high number like that was probably cancer. I thought like you and your hunny did, getting older and a little tired since I am going on 59. I also felt a little blotted and gassy frequently. Tuned out my spleen was enlarged from the CML. They told me my hemoglobin was 8 and should be 14. Had it hit seven, transfusion time.But you're advice is spot on. You start feeling 'different' and not the same, get an exam. We are selective about getting a balanced diet but I can't get past the pricing on the organic stuff in the Chicago area. More fish and poultry, skinned of course, love our salads with vinegar and oil dressing, pastas that are light on cheese and sauce and lean cuts of pork and beef. Not a soda fan and cut my beer down 90%.

You've had much to deal with HB. God bless you and hang in there. And thank you for sharing that with me.

 

Keeping as much stress as possible out of your life is really important also, but of course, sometimes it's going to happen.....

About foods - that's so important. If you haven't already, read up on Monsanto/GMO foods - it's scary. Processed foods that tastes delicious, but is nothing but perservatives, chemicals and sodium. Just want to help you be as healthy as possible. And the drs don't tell us about this crap b/c there's no $ in being healthy......

Do you know that Monsanto invented a new apple out of the petrie dish, one that won't go bad? Natural foods will go bad (except for honey).....if you put a tub of margarine outside, the bugs won't eat it b/c it's not a food. There's even a certain kind of plastic in it....beef, chix, pork - all of it that's in the grocery stores main isles has steroids, chemicals in it.

When I found out about the health benefits in pure/virgin coconut oil, one day I asked a friend who's health conscious if she knew about it. She said she had asked her dr about it and he told her it wasn't good for her b/c it has cholesterol in it. He didn't tell her the whole truth. Yes, it has cholesterol in it, but it's the good cholesterol that fights the bad cholesterol in our bodies......

About 2-3 yrs ago my SIL had some kind of medical issue that the dr said would require surgery, but no rush in it. My SIL ate nothing but organic foods, including coconut oil, after that....later went in for a check up and whatever the problem was was gone, the dr was surprised. SIL told him he ate nothing but organic, The dr said absolutely nothing - no 'good for you'' - nothing. My daughter was there noticing the dr's silence.... no surgery, no $ for the drs & Big Pharma....... I could go on and on about what I've learned......

But I will tell you about an incident I witnessed around a yr ago. I was at the electronic check out and there was a young mother w/little girl by me. I heard the mom ask the clerk about her EBT card not accepting the coconut oil she was buying. I recognized the oil - "Nature's Way" which I buy - you have to get out of the health section and kinda expensive. She was told she had to buy that item herself. I was pist. Here was a young mom, on welfare and wanting to feed her little girl healthy, but the state would only pay for pop, chips, donuts, crap stuff....... what an eye opener that was.

I use coconut oil to fry whatever - chix, salmon, etc. It's good..... but virgin oil is healthy also..... and expensive!

Ok, I'm thru babbling for awhile.....hope I gave you some food for tho't.......

 

Hey thanks HB. I am always a sponge for info that can help me going forwards after this.

I agree about stress. It will literally kill you. I remember years ago doing 80 hour wok weeks because we had a lot to do on our home as well as a business that was having problems. One night I'm in ER with chest pains. They do the EKG and it's all good. So they keep me overnight for a treadmill test. They kept cranking it and cranking it because I wasn't having problems with it. So they ruled the heart out. Doc talks to me a about my lifestyle and says 'stress'. Changed my attitude and got a better perspective and viola! All good! But they kept me over initially because I told them my mother died of congestive heart failure due to a bad valves in '97. But you're right, relax if you can.

Now that the weather is breaking my wife and I will hit the local fruit and veggie marts in our area. We walk a mile and a half, buy our greens and head back. We'll do that once or twice a week. I'm too old for racquetball which I played for 20 years competitively '85-'05, actually got to #8 in Illinois in '89. Great game for cardio but it tore by back and knees up. What the hell, ya gotta do something. But as far as foods are concerned, the wife and I have gone the sunflower and safflower oil route the last 10 years instead of the saturated oils. But I won't lie. In the summer, I got my smoker and three grills fired up whenever I can. But I pick better meats as well as poultry and fish. But I'll cheat a couple of times and throw a few rib-eye roasts on the smoker and call the neighbors over to help eat it. Not a lot of arm twisting involved Oh and I used to make my own beer. If you make real beer according to the Bavarian Purity Law, that is some of the healthiest food you will ever ingest. It actually dropped my cholesterol lower then the damn statins I was taking which were literally crippling me. So the next time you get your organic eats, go to a place that sells beers that are made according to the Bavarian Purity Law............and invite me over

 

Our my way, they were calling that the flu. Whatever it was, I didn't get it.

 

No Flu yet, and no flu shot.

 

Yes, relax, but you also have to tell the drama queens to not burden you w/their tales of woe (unless it's really serious stuff) b/c the negativity that people lay on you will weigh on your mind.... that's what I told family not to do w/my daughter w/leukemia. Stuff happens and people will groan and moan about it. They understood and kept things happy and relaxed.......peace of mind is so important.

We have Farmer's Markets in the summer and that's where I get most of my foods and stock up on honey and I'm sure you know refined sugar is a killer.

A family member got curious about the Amish, so he researched them. Later he was telling me what he learned and said that autism in the Amish is practically nil and asked me why I tho't it was. Said "Because of the foods they eat. Everything is home grown".... right. Makes sense. the pregnant Amish woman isn't feeding her unborn baby's brain processed/junk food......

3 yrs ago, this same guy also took a nutrition class at his college to learn about foods and he got quite an education. White bread is one of the worst things you can eat.....but then wheat isn't that healthy b/c it can put weight on and also bring out allergies. Grain is the best. Then he found out about fast foods and never again ate at BK, McD's, etc..... told him he got a jump start on being healthy b/c he was only 26.

I'm sure beer - particularly your home made - is a lot healthier than sodas. That stuff is another killer. Yrs ago a friends husband worked for Reynolds Aluminum. One day he told me that when it came to the cans for pop, they had to put a special liner in the Coca Cola cans or the coke would eat up the can. When Jack told me that, I made sure my kids never again drank Coca Cola....... but then I got addicted to Pepsi. I had a helluva time getting off that junk..... all kinds of addictive stuff in our processed foods/drinks.

I'm also a walker. Walking and swimming, 2 things I've always enjoyed. We have a beautiful lake & park and walking around it is awesome & so relaxing, particularly in the fall time. It's like walking thru a Thomas Kincade picture!

I ran out of avacados for my salad....... later!

 

I love my avocados!