Been wanting to write this for a long time. Thoughts on the "fearsome pestilence" of 09. No, not referring to the Anointed One.Just got my "flu jab" from Mary Poppins. Now that the peak of the swine flu epidemic seems to have abated here in Nuevo Mexico, and Deb has risen off her death bed, I was able to finally get my H1N1 shot.
As I wrote 3 weeks ago on Facebook:
For the love of all that is holy, DON'T TOUCH ANYBODY! Don't kiss, don't scratch your nose, don't chew on your pen, don't pick up the glass on the kitchen counter, don't shake hands at church, and if you hear coughing, RUN LIKE HELL in the other direction.............
We were getting slammed in the clinic with flu patients. The flu test is worthless, less accurate than a dart board. Seemed like every chart had "fever & cough" as chief complaint.
Deb caught it at the elementary school where she works. Usually she blames me for bringing bugs home. It has been an annual occupational hazard in my business. Not this year.
Again from Facebook:
Dramatic? Drama is in my bedroom, sedated. I'm sleeping on the den floor. She can't blame me this time. She caught it at school. I dress up like the bubble boy at work. I whisper a silent prayer of thanks when I pick up a chart that says "drug seeker" or "butt abcess" instead of "fever and cough"
I recorded the time course on my Treo.
Oct. 7. My beloved's birthday. A pleasant dinner at THE fancy restaurant in town. Deb felt fine.
Oct 8. Up on call till 2:30. No sleep. Nuvigil rocks. 6PM deb sudden onset fever, malaise
I got a bad feeling.................
Oct. 9 0700. Deb HA, malaise
I did a flu test on Deb. Negative, but she had all the classic influenza SSx
1600 Me worried...malaise, no temp, sleepless. start zanamivir.
2200 zanamivir, 5HC triaz Slept in den
Zanamivir is one of two antivirals used for influenza treatment and prevention. 5HC is a Lortab and triaz is Halcion. Our clinic had stockpiled zanamivir for the docs & providers, so as to keep the business running. Why didn't I treat Deb you ask? Tough decision. First of all, these viruses mutate very quickly and develop resistance. CDC recommendations are that antivirals be reserved for high risk pts or those needing hospitalization. Otherwise healthy people are treated best with chicken soup, ibuprofen, and any OTC cold med that will cause sleepiness. I needed to be at work, run the boys around, take care of Deb, and make sure no one sneezed on mom because she refused to get a flu shot.
Oct. 10 0900 Easy fatique Deb HA, malaise in bed
1100 Logan cough, feels OK
I think he's lying. Starting center in football, final game of the season later that week.
1500. zanamivir
2130 Deb up dizzy Me tired mild HA Logan cough.
Oct 11 0700 Poor sleep extra triaz 5HC
0900 Logan cough malaise
1100 Brian & I church
1600 Boys fighting Brian feigning ill? No, Brian never got sick. Go figure
2000 Deb sl better?
Oct 12 0700 Slept OK Logan worse fever
1300 Deb up still weak cough but cheery That won't last
Oct 13 0800 Logan cough claims feels better Still lyin'
Oct 14 2000 Deb tired cheerful wet cough Keep in mind she's been in bed 24/7, & I'm still sleeping on the Den floor
Oct 15 1600 Logan FB feels OK still cough. They won their game, he was weak but still played. Coaches cut him some slack. He played well. Later admitted he was lying & felt miserable.
Oct 16 1600 Deb cough
Oct 17 0900 Deb better Still cough
Oct 18 1100 Deb at church
Oct 19 1300 Deb at work Weak came home to sleep
Oct 20 1230 Deb at work cough fatigue malaise no fever
Oct 21 1200 Deb off work in bed fatigue malaise no fever I rumage thru the closets and find a vintage 12/08 package of ZMAX (single dose z-pack) My partners and patients know that I am very strict about discouraging the use of antibiotics for viral illness. And I always warn my flu patients not to overdue it, or risk "relapse" But 2 weeks is 14 days, after all!
Oct 22 1200 Deb in bed cough fatigue
Oct 23 1300 Deb still cough in bed I have bad HA fatigue malaise restart zanamivir
Oct 24 Deb still weak cough. Me fatigue HA better continue zanamivir
Would have expected some response to the azithromycin. She's now got a little pink in her lung butter. I rumage a little deeper and find some way old (couple of years) Augmentin samples.
Oct 25 0700 I sleep well no HA
1000 Deb cough weak but up
1700 Bro. Rhein Priesthood blessing
SO, from here on out things are improving. Priesthood power and Augmentin. Deb still coughs, but she's been to work. Now wearing gloves. Still needs a little 5HC & chlortrimeton for sleep.
Interesting little tidbit about how I finally got my H1N1 today.
Our Occupational Medicine clinic does annual flu shots for a lot of the big local companies, and we offer flu shots to the community through our Urgent Care Clinic. Mary Poppins, a delightful British Nurse, does a splendid job of ordering, scheduling, drawing up syringes, and administering thousands of doses every year. We order from our suppliers a year in advance to be sure we can deliver.
Or thought we could deliver. All that Hopey-Changy stuff changed all that.
Come the time we usually receive our vaccine, our suppliers tell us that we won't get what we ordered. A few thousand doses were, what's the term, appropriated? requisitioned? hijacked? "FOR THE SCHOOLS"
Huh? So, forget about our patients, customers and clients. No Sorry. No Nothing. But think about it. I don't take my kids to school for their health care. Nor do I take them there so they won't starve, won't freeze, and won't turn into antisocial loser brats. Parenthetical thought. HHS sec Sebelius declined to order school closings stating that if schools closed, KIDS WOULD STARVE! I'm speechless. Words fail.
Every one in town that has flu shots burns thru them in a few weeks. Our family gets the seasonal flu shot early, about a month ago. About a week ago, we got a shipment of about 100 H1N1 nasal doses, so I snag a couple for the boys. Deb & I are too old for flumist. We burn thru most of those, and after a week, have a few left. Calls are made, barters arranged. The hospital has a few H1N1 shots hidden, but needs some flumist. DEAL!.
Like some third world backwater, I've got some potatoes. Trade you for some boots, or maybe a tire if its got some tread left. Is this what we've become? Why would a lab or pharma with the ability to make vaccines subject themselves (employees, officers, & shareholders) to the abuse of the bureaucrats to make a vaccine if they can't make a profit, and would be subjected to endless lawsuit abuse? Thomas Jefferson wrote "Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." - And so it has come to pass.
BTW, that's Deb's XR from Tuesday. For you laymen, note the fuzzy patches blurring the right hemidiaphragm (left lower corner of the film)
