H1N1

The flu has taken my home by storm, subduing both of my kids simultaneously. . . which is no easy task. I suspect it's the revenge of the digital swine flu gremlins. Or, to be politically correct, the digital H1N1 gremlins. I didn't think they had influence over anything outside of their virtual world, but perhaps I made one too many pig jokes and incited them to cross the digital barrier into reality. In any case, both kids have more than a virtual case of fever, chills, aches, and a-truck-ran-over-me-itus.

Before you go blaming any innocent pigs, I hasten to add that I have no biological (or digital) proof that H1N1 is the actual strain that they've caught. I did some research and found that it is the most common flu in Ontario, but that would hardly stand up as evidence in a court of law. So relax all ye swine, I'm not suing yet. But we are taking this home invasion seriously, regardless of what or who the perpetrator is. No flu is a cake walk (I know from experience) and it's doubly tough to watch your kids in misery. Not to mention the grim possibility of complications . . . from any flu - swine, chicken, turkey, it doesn't matter.

I don't like hysteria, but when when a news story about an H1N1-related death of a young girl appears on TV at the precise moment that your children are burning up with fever, it does tend to give one the jitters. Any flu that kills even one otherwise healthy child is no joking matter. The Ontario Ministry of Health has a non-hysterical information site on H1N1 if you want to learn more about how to protect yourself.

There was a time when I believed that once the flu weaseled it's way into your home, fate would take its course and everyone was doomed to suffer a week or so of shake and bake. This time, armed with level-headed information (that I've either ignored or somehow missed before) I'm being aggressively defensive. Wash your hands often, keep your hands away from your face, drink a lot, sleep a lot (now that's proactive), gargle in salt water often, take vitamin C, take Cold FX or one of it's competitors, and sickness can be held at bay.

I'm not a salesman, and I'm definitely not getting a commission, but the Cold FX thing really does work, at least for me. You can read a non-biased opinion here.

In case you're thinking "What about the flu shot," I probably will get one of those too, in spite of the controversy (no link for "the controversy" - you can Google it yourself). It would have been nice if the vaccine had been available a couple weeks ago, but hey, I'm sure the flu vaccine dudes did the best they could.

And in case you are wondering, "aggressively defensive" is an oxymoron. I'll keep you posted on how the tactic works.