🤧🤒😷👩🏾‍⚕️👨🏽‍⚕️Flu, ewwwwwww

     Flu season is lurking around the corner. And before you get your thumbs out to send me a note telling me how bad flu shots are for you and the shots give you the flu and most of the time the shots prove ineffective and on and on, don’t. I still get a flu shot, as does my sweet husband, every year. We have both had serious bouts of pneumonia, his more serious than mine. He was hospitalized and, for a few days, teetered between this life and the next. I have had too many encounters with bronchitis; the final one ending with a partial lung collapse type pneumonia. So, we get flu shots.

     Over the years we have had some truly weird experiences getting flu shots. The first experience I can remember was back when the vaccine was scarce. The newspapers (remember those?) would print locations where one could go to get a flu shot, usually in a grocery store. I could never figure out the connection between groceries and flu but, oh well. So we would get up early to go stand in line at the local Piggly Wiggly. The first thing that happens (and is the only constant to this day) is you get a questionnaire to fill out with when you got your last shot, any allergies, etc. Then you get in line. Sometimes the lines were serpentine, like Disneyland. Hardly the end of the line ending in a fun ride or a Small World but my husband and I would patiently wait our turn, joking with our line-mates. One time we waited almost an hour in line only to be told, as we reached the front, they were out of vaccine. Oh poo, another day, another line somewhere else. I always kid my husband that he’s a big baby and he better not cry. I also Always ask for a sucker for not crying.

     Once we went to a local mall (fairly new at the time). The line extended from one end of the mall to the other, probably about a half a mile. By then, the shots were being recommended for seniors and children under six. Since my husband and I were neither babies nor over 65, we were actively sneered at and whispered about as we made our way to the head of the line. Again, we joked, well with each other anyway since we were in obviously hostile territory, all through the half mile long-hour+ procession to our painful destination. (Disclosure: We didn’t have health insurance or a doctor. There was no going to our private physician.When my husband had his life-threatening bout with pneumonia and almost died, his physician ordered him to get flu AND pneumonia shot every year as his immune system had been so damaged. We had legitimate reason to be there.)

     There was the time the shots were being offered at the local high school – evening hours. We ate early then headed out. We got there at opening bell – 6:00 pm. We should have guessed something was awry when we were given a map to navigate the halls of the school on our way to the hidden treasure. We fully expected to see dotted lines and arrows pointing our way through the labyrinth of the school. We literally “toured” the entire high school, and it’s a Big school. We were in line with families with four and five kids who were just thrilled to be there. We joked and made up stories about the people we saw in line and laughed and laughed. We saw student artwork and read notices on upcoming events. We were going to sign up for the winter choir concert but couldn’t find the sign-up sheet. By 8:00 pm we finally made it into the gym where five tables were set up with a nurse and helper to take our forms. We rolled up our sleeves, winced, then followed the crowd outside thinking everyone knew where we they were going. Bad move, they didn’t so we didn’t make it to our car until almost 9:00 pm. It had snowed that day and it was cold. Neither of us had boots because we didn’t think we’d be tromping through snow. The walks were slippery as they hadn’t been shoveled and nothing was very well lit. It was dark; very, very dark. We were cold and tired but we’d gotten our shots!

     Then grocery store pharmacies and drug stores started to offer flu shots. Until we both became eligible for Medicare, that’s where we went for our shots. The shot giver person always requested we walk through the store for half an hour to be sure we weren’t going to have an adverse reaction. They don’t do that anymore. We have discovered some people are much better at giving shots than others. While I never cry, well almost never, some shots do hurt and my arm might ache for a little while. I can honestly say I haven’t had more than a single cold in over fifteen years. But what I do have is peace of mind. We wash our hands a lot. I wipe down common surfaces with disinfecting wipes weekly. We avoid being around sick people as much as we can. But I honestly do miss those long lines, weird line-mates, the crazy things we did to pass the time. We had so much fun.