more news. the good kind
I've been stabbed!
With a needle.
Yes, I've gone and done it, got a flu vaccination.
Even got a certificate to prove it.
My local chemist does them.
Usually I don't bother, I'm healthy as a horse and don't get sick.
But last year I got the flu for the first time ever, and I'm hearing on TV that there are many more people this year that already have the flu, hospitals are crowded with them and the season has barely begun.
So my chances of avoiding it are dramatically reduced.
I booked my vaccination last week and had it done today.
Better safe than sorry I guess.
Last year was horrendous, I felt that dying might be preferable to what I was feeling at the time. Then I got better :) and life was good again.
With a needle.
Yes, I've gone and done it, got a flu vaccination.
Even got a certificate to prove it.
My local chemist does them.
Usually I don't bother, I'm healthy as a horse and don't get sick.
But last year I got the flu for the first time ever, and I'm hearing on TV that there are many more people this year that already have the flu, hospitals are crowded with them and the season has barely begun.
So my chances of avoiding it are dramatically reduced.
I booked my vaccination last week and had it done today.
Better safe than sorry I guess.
Last year was horrendous, I felt that dying might be preferable to what I was feeling at the time. Then I got better :) and life was good again.
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That is something I need to do as well. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we have a few months before flu shots will be necessary here. Good on you for getting yours.
ReplyDeleteI'm mere inches from wearing a surgical mask, everywhere, from now on.
ReplyDeletePeople are so disrespectful with their sneezing and coughing these days! I feel like every time I go out, I need to have a full decontamination scrub down before entering the house. :/
Good on you for having it - I'm too much of a wimp myself. :)
Elephant's Child; do it very soon. Apparently this year's flu is a bad one and so many more people already have it.
ReplyDeleteJac; those few months will disappear in the blink of an eye. Mark your calendar and book your shot.
Snoskred; I've thought about wearing surgical masks, especially on the buses and may still do so, because as well as the sneezing, coughing, there are other airborne pollutants that bother me. Stale smoke permeating clothing, heavy perfumes, for example. These trigger hayfever and asthma for me.
Just two days ago I was on a bus and the woman across the aisle was sneezing, then the woman next to me sneezed, then the driver sneezed! Whenever I get home from anywhere the first thing I do is wash my hands as if preparing to do surgery.
While I will say that (pause to knock on wood) I've only had one cold since I retired four years ago. I did finally start getting flu shots two years ago.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I was teaching, I was usually equally healthy, with only one cold a year, and barely that. I also haven't had the flu since 1973. Those years I attributed my good health to all the antibodies I'd built up after 20 years of students sneezing on me.
I stopped having flu shots a couple of years ago when I became quite ill after a flu shot. I expect I will resume having them at some point when I am older and flu can be a threat to your life. Meanwhile, I am dying from a cold. See tomorrow's post.
ReplyDeleteAren't the usually Asian people I see wearing masks protecting other people from catching a cold or flu?
I stopped the flu shot several years ago, too, when I had a bad reaction two years in a row. At that point I'd had one for more than ten years in a row. I haven't had the flu or even a serious cold in twenty years, so I guess I'll just go with dumb luck.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! We've been getting a flu shot every year since we hit 55 or 60 or so. (You know, when the doctor started saying, "You're of the age... blah blah blah") Knock on wood, we haven't gotten the flu in many years, even when we were exposed to others who had it.
ReplyDeleteGesundheit!!
ReplyDeleteI've never had a flu shot; touch wood...I've never had the flu. The last time I had a cold was in 1998....I was very run-down at the time...it was shortly after my brother passed away. .6th June.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend, River. :)
Good on you! I caught the flu this year, it was horrible! I was lying in bed literally moaning for 5 days. Everything hurts except my hair. My hubby said he had not seen me this sick before.
ReplyDeleteThe one year I didn't get a flu shot was 1993, and was so sick with the flu. Since then, the flu shot is essential. Teaching elementary school then, getting the flu was a given.
ReplyDelete.. good for you River....... Mum, hubby and I get the flu shot every year... never miss.....but we are in the 'older and oldest' age brackets.. lol ... :)
ReplyDeleteI get the pneumonia shot as well every 5 years..... have had pneumonia twice in the past ...not nice....
We can't avoid all the germs out there .. just have to rely on 'luck' mostly..
Hugs.... Barb xxx
Well done River!! Phil and I have been having 'flu jabs for years now and not one dose of 'flu between us thank goodness altho' a few years back a bug that was going around on a cruise ship came to shore with friends who we met for a meal and we got that bug. It was a nasty one and obviously not included in our flu jab that year. Apparently it had come aboard with people from America.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't get a reaction. Phil doesn't but my arm usually comes up in a pink swelling and is painful for a few days but it's well worth it.
Our doctor, who bulk bills, does ours so no cost involved.
It is also worth having the one for pneumonia when we are older as that can prevent nasties as well. Just a thought.
Marty Damon; I never had the flu at all until last year and got it (I'm sure) directly from a woman who got on the bus clearly ill, with sweaty pale face, red watering eyes and constantly sniffling and sneezing into bunches of tissues. Without that, I probably wouldn't have bothered with a flu shot this year either.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; sorry to hear you are 'dying'; should I make arrangements to come over for the funeral? (*~*) Yes, mostly Asians who wear the surgical masks, but today I saw a caucasian wearing one, possibly he has been ill so is at risk, or he just thinks they're a good idea.
Joanne; I'd been going with dumb luck too, relying on my lifelong excellent immune system. But as well as the flu last year, my asthma is worse than usual, so I caved and got the jab.
Susan; I'd planned on waiting till at least 65, maybe 70, because they're free then, but with so many more people falling ill so early in the season, I changed my mind.
fishducky; thank you. I'm not sneezing yet, so I'll keep that for later.
Lee; I barely had colds, mostly hayfever. Same symptoms, but not contagious and more easily fixed with an antihistamine.
mm; I well remember that everything hurts stage, on top of the nausea, it was the worst I had ever felt in my life. I never want to go through that again.
Susan Kane; sorry to hear you had it that one year. You never forgot the flu shot again, I bet. My younger daughter works in a hospital and gets a free shot every year at the beginning of flu season.
Barbara; I didn't know there were shots for pneumonia until I read the information sheet at the chemist.
Mimsie; no reaction here, a little tenderness after lying on the arm all night, but that's all. I should have had mine from my doctor, who also bulk bills, but the chemist is so much closer and I didn't want to sit in the clinic waiting room for however long it took with sick people all around me. I won't bother with the pneumonia one unless my asthma gets really bad.
Probably not to worry about the pneumonia one till you are in your 70s perhaps. Your doctor will advise you.
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