Blog Dis
You and the flu...
2025-10-28
Yes indeed. Flu season is upon us and we're all well advised to dash out like a quick little bunny and offer up our arms to get punctured with a needle. Only I've been one of those recalcitrant persons who never got an annual flu shot, and I mean like not ever.
In my family, us kids were given a daily dose of cod-liver oil, which is a natural immune booster, and rich in Vitamin D. I'm an Air Force brat, which is to say my father served in the Air Force his entire military career. In Canada, it was a bonus for all Air Force personnel and their families to be provided with an unlimited and free supply of cod-liver oil. So, us kids lined up each morning, like bear cubs, to take our teaspoon of cod-liver oil. And you know what? My mother had made the connection that her kids were sick maybe once a year, if that, with barely a cold vs the other kids who dealt with illness and multiple colds every year, over and above getting their annual flu shots, something that wasn't doled out to us. However, early child vaccinations like polio and measles were administered.
I hear it on local stations, because I'm an eccentric who actually still watches local news. Health officials are dispensing annual medical advice to the general population, for persons to get their flu-shots, and how it's even more important for anyone over the age of 55 to get a flu shot. Yet, these same medical officials are also responsible to state the hard-truth that getting the flu shot will not guarantee that you won't still come down with the flu. Hospital staff, on the other hand, have no choice to get stabbed with needles every year, whether they like it or not. And not just flu shots, but also shots to protect them against Hepatitis A and B infections, given their exposure to bodily fluids, in the course of performing their jobs.
As we all know now, and this was predicted by one friend whose chemistry background had made all the difference in helping him to figure it out immediately, that the Covid shot would replace the flu shot, which it has, yet now we not only have an annual Covid shot, but also an RSV shot (respiratory syncytial virus), owing to kids and seniors being the most susceptible to these cyclical illnesses.
Of course, we're well advised to wash our hands, each time we need to use the facilities, and whenever we're preparing meals. And this is the crux of it, is it not? If you are fastidious with your daily hygiene and wash your hands frequently in the day, there should be less concern for you, unless you work with the public and are bound to be exposed to hoards of people. The issue of immunology is of profound importance to the healthcare industry, buffed up by tonnes of pills and vitamins to boost one's sagging immune system.
I cannot speak for everyone, for if I did, I'd then regard myself as schizophrenic if I was actually able to speak with that many voices. If I did, I'd more than likely repeat the tried and true rules to follow:
1. Eat right: put emphasis on fruits and veggies
2. Exercise: the less active have weak immune systems
3. Sleep: you need your zzzz's, baby
4. Listen to your body: the first signs of having a chill means your body is trying to tell you that it's blood needs to be heated up, so take a hot bath with Epsom salts and soak (and it's not the same as a hot shower). Soak in the tub and your blood when heated up will fight off viruses more efficiently.
But if I may, kindly don't rush out to tell the healthcare officials about me that I've never had a flu shot in my adult years. I don't believe in them. Don't listen one iota to me, though, bcus I'm not a healthcare official. My opinion on the validity of flu shots is merely an opinion based on decades of living just fine without them. Besides, the healthcare industry is an active one, and even when they issue warnings, and advice, many are of the opinion that their warnings are misinformation. We do all know with certainty that a virus is real.
This year, in 2025, I noticed that it began toward the end of September, once cooler temperatures arrived; how young persons in their 20s are wearing masks again. Same goes for other business professionals coming into the tenant building where I live. I find it amusing. 😆Many of these persons were also the same ones griping about having to wear a mask to enter my building, it's common areas like the elevator or the laundry room. But to me, my brain reaches for the more obvious contact points that are potential health hazards: door handles, elevator buttons, our mobile phones, keyboards and the like which are rife with germs, and where there are common washrooms shared, the handles when swabbed are known to have the highest cases of e-Coli and other nasty bacteria.
But at least you have your mask on, so you'll be safe. 😆To those who live with a compromised immune system, know that my heart goes out to you, and this post isn't about getting under your skin. I respect your precautionary methods to protect your health. Pay no mind to those who'd give you a hard time. I've one friend whose next-door neighbour had parked their car in their garage, oblivious to the chemicals leaking from their vehicle's engine, and these toxic chemicals had leaked next door to their neighbours garage, and this exposure caused my friend to lose her health, owing to her immune system having been destroyed. Chemicals will do it.
The flu is a microscopic organism that literally lives in the air we breathe. Perhaps you've been blessed with good genes and are rarely sick. I'm willing to bet your minor sick days are probably more attributed to the state of your bodily care and lifestyle, than they are connected to your great grand-daddy and his genes. One former colleague of mine was dutiful in getting her flu shot annually, only to also come down with the flu every year, and to be walloped by it. This individual would lecture me about not ever having the flu shot, and how I was contributing to its spread, so I would delicately point out the obvious to her.
"A cold is communicable even before symptoms are showing, correct?" [I would ask]
"Yes, that's correct."
"But a flu is only communicable when the infected person is actually presenting signs of the flu, correct?"
"OK... yeah that's true too."
"So if I don't ever get the flu, and I don't ever get a flu shot, then how am I passing it on to others?"
My former colleague walked away. She was unamused with my logic. Of course, my short discourse with her had come from me, which is to say I am a woman whose immune system is strong, and whose body has the strength of an ox. I don't mean my body is as huge as that of an ox but I've overcome some illnesses that would knock most on their asses. I survived shingles in my early 20s, and I can't begin to adequately describe the pain. My case presented itself on my face. Yet, I was able to heal from shingles within four days, not because of the advice of the doctor who had scared the life right out of me ["You may lose your eyesight and you can expect to be sick for at least 8 weeks to three months."] but because my mom was insistent on forcing me to shower each day, and afterward to apply calamine lotion to the lesions. She asked the doctor to prescribe a powerful sedative to knock me out each time I had woken up from a four-hour sleep. My sheets were also changed every day.
Truth is I've only had the flu once in 17 years, and this was back in 2022 when it was mandatory for me to take my second Covid shot (the booster shot, rather than the first shot which was administered in two doses), in order to travel out of the country, without which I wouldn't have been able to enter the foreign country, unless I could provide proof of Covid vaccination. Well, after getting my Covid booster shot, one after having receiving the initial shot, I came down with the influenza flu and I'm convinced it was bcus of the Covid shot, which had compromised my immune system. Influenza knocked me on my fanny, and it took me two days to recover. I had even thought I was going to die, at one point, so I left my door unlocked in order that a family member would be able to enter my unit, in case I didn't answer any calls after two days.
Change your bedsheets if you get sick. There's an old wives tale that we shouldn't sleep in 'sick-sheets' and this to me makes sense, given that our bedsheets are fibers that hold millions of dead skin cells, bed mites, so why not a virus?
Change your toothbrush if you get sick.
Take a hot bath with Epsom salts if you're feeling sick or full-blown sick bcus these salts are rich in magnesium and will help to soften the muscle tissue in your body, which is why our body feels achy when we have the flu.
I listen to my body. Sometimes my body tells me that I need more dark chocolate, in which case I will happily oblige and indulge. And at other times, my body tells me that she's feeling achy and full of pain, despite my psychological state being super-duper. I immediately run a hot bath and pour a cup of Epsom salts and soak. Afterward, I'll pour myself a wee glass of port and sip slowly. By morning, I will feel right as rain.
Ever wonder how the world survived before annual flu shots? The flu vaccine went mainstream in the mid 40s, when it was fully licenced by the military. I know all of this and yet, I still won't line up at my local pharmacy to get a flu shot, nor will I never get a Covid shot again... not ever.
You do you. I will do me.
In my family, us kids were given a daily dose of cod-liver oil, which is a natural immune booster, and rich in Vitamin D. I'm an Air Force brat, which is to say my father served in the Air Force his entire military career. In Canada, it was a bonus for all Air Force personnel and their families to be provided with an unlimited and free supply of cod-liver oil. So, us kids lined up each morning, like bear cubs, to take our teaspoon of cod-liver oil. And you know what? My mother had made the connection that her kids were sick maybe once a year, if that, with barely a cold vs the other kids who dealt with illness and multiple colds every year, over and above getting their annual flu shots, something that wasn't doled out to us. However, early child vaccinations like polio and measles were administered.
I hear it on local stations, because I'm an eccentric who actually still watches local news. Health officials are dispensing annual medical advice to the general population, for persons to get their flu-shots, and how it's even more important for anyone over the age of 55 to get a flu shot. Yet, these same medical officials are also responsible to state the hard-truth that getting the flu shot will not guarantee that you won't still come down with the flu. Hospital staff, on the other hand, have no choice to get stabbed with needles every year, whether they like it or not. And not just flu shots, but also shots to protect them against Hepatitis A and B infections, given their exposure to bodily fluids, in the course of performing their jobs.
As we all know now, and this was predicted by one friend whose chemistry background had made all the difference in helping him to figure it out immediately, that the Covid shot would replace the flu shot, which it has, yet now we not only have an annual Covid shot, but also an RSV shot (respiratory syncytial virus), owing to kids and seniors being the most susceptible to these cyclical illnesses.
Of course, we're well advised to wash our hands, each time we need to use the facilities, and whenever we're preparing meals. And this is the crux of it, is it not? If you are fastidious with your daily hygiene and wash your hands frequently in the day, there should be less concern for you, unless you work with the public and are bound to be exposed to hoards of people. The issue of immunology is of profound importance to the healthcare industry, buffed up by tonnes of pills and vitamins to boost one's sagging immune system.
I cannot speak for everyone, for if I did, I'd then regard myself as schizophrenic if I was actually able to speak with that many voices. If I did, I'd more than likely repeat the tried and true rules to follow:
1. Eat right: put emphasis on fruits and veggies
2. Exercise: the less active have weak immune systems
3. Sleep: you need your zzzz's, baby
4. Listen to your body: the first signs of having a chill means your body is trying to tell you that it's blood needs to be heated up, so take a hot bath with Epsom salts and soak (and it's not the same as a hot shower). Soak in the tub and your blood when heated up will fight off viruses more efficiently.
But if I may, kindly don't rush out to tell the healthcare officials about me that I've never had a flu shot in my adult years. I don't believe in them. Don't listen one iota to me, though, bcus I'm not a healthcare official. My opinion on the validity of flu shots is merely an opinion based on decades of living just fine without them. Besides, the healthcare industry is an active one, and even when they issue warnings, and advice, many are of the opinion that their warnings are misinformation. We do all know with certainty that a virus is real.
This year, in 2025, I noticed that it began toward the end of September, once cooler temperatures arrived; how young persons in their 20s are wearing masks again. Same goes for other business professionals coming into the tenant building where I live. I find it amusing. 😆Many of these persons were also the same ones griping about having to wear a mask to enter my building, it's common areas like the elevator or the laundry room. But to me, my brain reaches for the more obvious contact points that are potential health hazards: door handles, elevator buttons, our mobile phones, keyboards and the like which are rife with germs, and where there are common washrooms shared, the handles when swabbed are known to have the highest cases of e-Coli and other nasty bacteria.
But at least you have your mask on, so you'll be safe. 😆To those who live with a compromised immune system, know that my heart goes out to you, and this post isn't about getting under your skin. I respect your precautionary methods to protect your health. Pay no mind to those who'd give you a hard time. I've one friend whose next-door neighbour had parked their car in their garage, oblivious to the chemicals leaking from their vehicle's engine, and these toxic chemicals had leaked next door to their neighbours garage, and this exposure caused my friend to lose her health, owing to her immune system having been destroyed. Chemicals will do it.
The flu is a microscopic organism that literally lives in the air we breathe. Perhaps you've been blessed with good genes and are rarely sick. I'm willing to bet your minor sick days are probably more attributed to the state of your bodily care and lifestyle, than they are connected to your great grand-daddy and his genes. One former colleague of mine was dutiful in getting her flu shot annually, only to also come down with the flu every year, and to be walloped by it. This individual would lecture me about not ever having the flu shot, and how I was contributing to its spread, so I would delicately point out the obvious to her.
"A cold is communicable even before symptoms are showing, correct?" [I would ask]
"Yes, that's correct."
"But a flu is only communicable when the infected person is actually presenting signs of the flu, correct?"
"OK... yeah that's true too."
"So if I don't ever get the flu, and I don't ever get a flu shot, then how am I passing it on to others?"
My former colleague walked away. She was unamused with my logic. Of course, my short discourse with her had come from me, which is to say I am a woman whose immune system is strong, and whose body has the strength of an ox. I don't mean my body is as huge as that of an ox but I've overcome some illnesses that would knock most on their asses. I survived shingles in my early 20s, and I can't begin to adequately describe the pain. My case presented itself on my face. Yet, I was able to heal from shingles within four days, not because of the advice of the doctor who had scared the life right out of me ["You may lose your eyesight and you can expect to be sick for at least 8 weeks to three months."] but because my mom was insistent on forcing me to shower each day, and afterward to apply calamine lotion to the lesions. She asked the doctor to prescribe a powerful sedative to knock me out each time I had woken up from a four-hour sleep. My sheets were also changed every day.
Truth is I've only had the flu once in 17 years, and this was back in 2022 when it was mandatory for me to take my second Covid shot (the booster shot, rather than the first shot which was administered in two doses), in order to travel out of the country, without which I wouldn't have been able to enter the foreign country, unless I could provide proof of Covid vaccination. Well, after getting my Covid booster shot, one after having receiving the initial shot, I came down with the influenza flu and I'm convinced it was bcus of the Covid shot, which had compromised my immune system. Influenza knocked me on my fanny, and it took me two days to recover. I had even thought I was going to die, at one point, so I left my door unlocked in order that a family member would be able to enter my unit, in case I didn't answer any calls after two days.
Change your bedsheets if you get sick. There's an old wives tale that we shouldn't sleep in 'sick-sheets' and this to me makes sense, given that our bedsheets are fibers that hold millions of dead skin cells, bed mites, so why not a virus?
Change your toothbrush if you get sick.
Take a hot bath with Epsom salts if you're feeling sick or full-blown sick bcus these salts are rich in magnesium and will help to soften the muscle tissue in your body, which is why our body feels achy when we have the flu.
I listen to my body. Sometimes my body tells me that I need more dark chocolate, in which case I will happily oblige and indulge. And at other times, my body tells me that she's feeling achy and full of pain, despite my psychological state being super-duper. I immediately run a hot bath and pour a cup of Epsom salts and soak. Afterward, I'll pour myself a wee glass of port and sip slowly. By morning, I will feel right as rain.
Ever wonder how the world survived before annual flu shots? The flu vaccine went mainstream in the mid 40s, when it was fully licenced by the military. I know all of this and yet, I still won't line up at my local pharmacy to get a flu shot, nor will I never get a Covid shot again... not ever.
You do you. I will do me.
