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Monday, November 6, 2017

The last time I got the flu

I got something done that I have not always been on top of in years past: I got my flu shot EARLY this flu season! Have you gotten yours?
In the past, I put off getting a flu shot and paid dearly for procrastinating.
I’ve had my fair share of bad experiences with the flu. The most recent was when I was moving across the country from Kansas City, Missouri to Phoenix in the beginning of winter. I didn’t get a flu shot that year. I put it off and it came back to bite me.
I remember the cold Midwest wind, snow falling, frozen ice on the ground and my breath being visible. And I got the flu…at the worst time.
My wife and I were in the middle of packing up our stuff in our apartment. I experienced chills, aches, pains, a high fever, sore throat, and a cough that was miserable. The worst part was my poor wife was left to pack up all of our stuff in boxes, plastic wrap and old newspaper. She did most of the moving herself.
My biggest contribution to that moving experience remains vivid in my mind. Some of the more difficult things to pack were our outdoor chairs, table and fire pit, which were on the heavier side. I had to go onto our balcony to retrieve them.
My wife and I had the Kansas City Chiefs game on the television inside. I remember the sports commentators having their faces covered up to their noses with scarves because it was zero degrees in the city.
Wrapped up in winter gear, flu and all, I grabbed each piece of outdoor furniture with my aching hands (probably in discomfort from the flu as well as the cold temperature), shook and dusted the snow off of each piece, and hauled them inside. It took all the energy I had at the time just to move that furniture inside. And it still was just a drop in the bucket compared to all the hard work my wife put in to get us moved.
We had to wait a couple of days for the weather to improve before we hit the road. An ice storm had come through the night before and the roads were very slick. We lived in the middle of the city, and the last thing I wanted to attempt was driving a moving truck through Kansas City traffic.
On the last days of fighting off my illness, the ice had begun to melt in the city. There was a lull before the next storm was supposed to roll in. We decided to make our move.
At 4 a.m., I got behind the wheel of the movers truck we rented and drove out of KCMO to hit the open roads of Kansas. A couple of days later, we made it to Arizona. I couldn’t help but think of how much easier things could have been if I’d just gotten my flu shot.
I used to think that it was inconvenient to take time to get one. But today, more than ever before, there are a number of places where flu shots are available.
Many walk-in care clinics can be found in pharmacies or retail stores. Immunizations are widely available. You can find immunization clinics state-wide and use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website to find a clinic in your area. Your local pharmacy can administer vaccines. Most county health departments carry the flu vaccine.  I got my flu shot at an Emergency Preparedness Fair at the local mall in September.
Looking back, I would have much rather had a normal, uneventful move than end up having a flu story to tell about the experience.  Getting a flu shot is worth not getting the headache. And the chills. And the fever. And everything that comes with having the flu.


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