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| The Flu - 4/8/15 | Let me first start by apologizing. I know in my last post I said I was going to try and do these at least once a week and here it is, a week an a half later. I've been sick. The sickest I've been in years. Worse than the pneumonia, even. I did my best to drug/ignore it on Saturday and had a great day. And then spent all day in bed Sunday wincing in pain every time I tried to breathe. I don't know if you've ever been made painfully aware of every breath you take. It turns out I take a lot of them. But I'm not writing now to bitch about being sick, but to talk about something it's made me consider.
I went to the doctor on Monday. Though I had flu-like symptoms that had me ill for a fifth straight day by the time I spoke to her, she only said the word "flu" once, when she asked if I'd had my flu shot. I had. She dismissed it as a virus, told me it would probably keep me out of work for another 2-3 days, at least, and rattled off some symptoms that should require more than rest, fluids, and chicken soup. After having spent the vast majority of the last seven days in bed with flu like symptoms, I'm becoming convinced the "virus" the doctor spoke of is none other than influenza. But why wouldn't the doctor say that? It seems like a pertinent piece of my medical situation. But the thing is, I was immunized. I know that the flu mutates rapidly and there are a number of strains going around. When they make the vaccine, scientists basically guess at which one is likely to be the most prevalent. I also read last fall that they may have guessed wrong this year. It appears in my case, that may have been the case. It seems fairly simple and straightforward and why wouldn't the doctor just say that?
But then again, there are a lot of anti-science, anti-vaxer types that would just love to point to something like "I know a guy who got the vaccine and got sick anyway so really you're better off avoiding the mercury and fuck heard immunity and the UFOs ate my underpants," or whatever bollox they are pedaling these days. Could that have been part of the doctor's calculous? She wasn't my regular doctor, who wasn't available to see me on a couple of hour's notice, so she doesn't know me. Would he have told me I likely had the flu? She was quite adamant that I go home to avoid making other people sick. Much more adamant than doctor's usually are with me (and I'm the moron who ignores his body until it can't be ignored, so I'm no stranger to a stern talking to by a doctor).
Anyway, since we've stopped trusting science, it seems our doctors may have stopped trusting us. Brilliant, humanity. Until next week (by which I mean Sunday evening), be well. |
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