H1N-What?

It’s an epidemic. Or is it a pandemic…?

I get my “-emic’s” mixed up.

I watch the news everyday; I consider the footage of airports filled with passengers wearing paper masks. Pictures of people coughing. Directions on how to sneeze properly. (Have you heard? They have changed the rules on this. It is supposed to be into your sleeve now, not your hands. I wonder if it will turn into another margarine VS. butter debate… which one is really better for you?)

Yesterday washing your hands was the BEST WAY to ward off the illness and today NEW RESEARCH has decided that maybe that’s not the case… (Sense a hint of sarcasm?)

Wear a mask in public places.
Sneeze into your sleeve.
Sanitize sanitize sanitize…

And good heavens don’t even mention travelling to Mexico. (It’s like talking about bombs in an airport… oh no no no no no …)

We as diabetics are considered a “high risk” category. Along with the tiny children, the asthmatics, and all others who have chronic illness or who live with someone who does. (Sheesh, does that even leave anyone?)

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this flu shot. So the underlying question: Do we, or don’t we?

I did.

I’d heard of the sickness people were suffering from it. I’d heard rumors of seizures and swollen arms. But I get the regular flu shot every year. So I just bit the bullet and got both done at once, despite all the kerfuffle. (Seriously folks… what’s one more needle right?)

Heck I’m still waiting for the bird flu to hit, never mind this pig thing. What ever happened to that? This thing the birds were bringing overseas from, what, Asia or somewhere, that was going to wipe out human kind…? I always get this mental image in my head of flocks of rabid seagulls (all red eyed and frothing from the beak) zooming and zipping in from over the ocean and dive bombing us like war planes.

Well clearly that never happened. (It’s also like when someone mentions Mad-Cow. Isn’t your first thought always a cow-who-looks-angry? Like a Gary Larson cartoon? No? Just me?)
There has been a lot of media hype over this H1N1 thing that might be slightly disproportionate to the reality. It’s a shame that absolute truth in these situations is impossible to achieve or even guess at.

I have a friend who believes that it’s all a conspiracy and that these flu viruses are being cooked up in a lab somewhere and inflicted on us by a foreign government as a type of ware fare.

That one may be a bit of a stretch --- (I have an idea, we all just need to eat more bacon. This way there will be fewer pigs, and therefore less swine flu. Just need to eat more bacon… It’s hard to argue logic like that.)

Either way, my fellow diabetics, keep healthy, be careful. Whether or not you decide to get the H1N1 shot is for only you to choose. It’s a very personal choice so weigh your pros and cons carefully and don’t be too swayed by scare tactics and irrational propaganda. And remember: sneeze into your sleeve.

It’s the LAW now!