Lessons from the Flu

Last Sunday, after taking care of yet another Flu patient, I made the remark that it would be a miracle if I didn't get it too.

I should have kept my mouth shut.  Better yet, I should have covered it with a mask.

By Tuesday morning I knew something was wrong.  I had the kind of aches you should only get when you take up a new sport.  

By Wednesday, I was visiting the doctor, and starting on Tamiflu.

On Wednesday I commented that at least I didn't have a cough.

By Thursday I had that non-productive cough that doesn't do any good, it just wears you out and hurts you head and ribs every time you hack.

Before you ask, yes, I did get the Flu shot, and I still recommend it.

I also recommend the use of masks for staff during the Flu season because the Flu shot is not perfect.

I am the worst patient, but it's not my fault.  Nurses make notoriously poor patients and men are wimps. (We have a definition for a guy who comes in with a cold, who acts like he's on his last leg, with the family doating on him, we call it a "man cold.")

So, put those two factors together and I'm in that sub class of the worst of the worst patients.

It's not entirely my fault, I don't get a lot of practice (thank God)

The last time I was out sick was before Obama was president and we all know that's been a long time because "I won 'em both."

It's ironic that I can stand up to bosses, and administrators, and lawyers and yet it's a little virus so small that you can't see it with the eye, that takes me to my knees.

It's a lesson in humility.

There's also another lesson.

I've been out of commission all week and you know what happened?

Not all that much.

The world kept spinning, the patient 's at work were taken care of, my union duties were handled by others.

You see, it takes a team, and when one member goes down, another steps in.