The pig of death comes for us
Posted on November 4th, 2009 in Personal Messages, Rants
Yesterday my daughter went to the doctor because she was running a rather high fever and was feeling generally unwell. Wrapped in a blanket most the day, she even got so far as to just lay down and cry from the pain in her throat so she had to be seen, in my opinion.
My wife set the appointment for the afternoon and took her in. A little while after the appointment I got the message that my daughter had been diagnosed with H1N1.
I was a little taken aback by this news at first. The thought that “swine flu” had made it into my family was a little unnerving to say the least. But as I thought about it a little more I realized that H1N1, as nasty as it has been portrayed in the media, is indeed just a flu. Yes, I said that. Just a flu.
Every year people get the flu. Lots and lots of people die every year from it. Yet for some reason our nation, in fact the world, has been duped into thinking that the swine flu is some megakiller virus that will consume you, your animals and everything you love in mere seconds if you don’t crawl under a rug and hide from it. I refuse to believe that.
And I refuse to believe that my daughter has that flu. In reading through the symptoms of swine flu, she does exhibit some of them. But for a doctor to look at my daughter for a few minutes and say she has H1N1 without so much as a throat culture or blood test is just silly.
Still, I will make sure my daughter takes her medication. But I am not buying into the hysteria surrounding swine flu. It is, after all, just a flu. It’s not like some cloaked pig adorned in a black grim reaper outfit will be knocking on our door anytime soon. And if he does, he better be prepared. This family loves bacon, blackened or otherwise.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I don’t think people have ever changed in mentality here in our great United States. They are still those scared people from the Orson Welles “War of the Worlds” days. They just don’t think they are. When I heard about the swine flu I almost wanted to laugh. My boyfriend asked why and I told him..”because people haven’t figured out to think for themselves YET?” Duh every living thing has some type of mutation to adapt and thrive and they think a virus doesn’t? HAHA. I do hope your little one gets better because being sick just sucks. Tell Sandy I am praying for her too because she has a lot to deal with and now she is going to have a child who is sick too. Love you guys!
November 24th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Personally I think the media has some responsibility in this as well. I remember when SARS hit and when bird flu hit, how freaked out everybody was. And how hardly anyone looked at the fact that plain old flu that we have been battling for years kills so many people every year. Then swine flu comes along and we are supposed to freak out over that, too.
Maybe it is the pharmaceutical companies pushing this crap. Maybe it is the health care industry altogether, or even the government doing it. Regardless, I am not buying into this whole panic inducing frenzy of diseases ravaging my family.
My daughter got sick, took some Tamiflu and was feeling better a couple of days later. So in the end, it’s all good.
Thanks for the comment.