The "F" word

I'm gonna use it. The "F" word -- the three letter one, that is. The FLU. There, I said it out loud. This H1N1 flu stuff is starting to scare the bejeezus out of me.

Earlier this week, a friend of a friend of my sister's passed away from complications of H1N1. She was in her late 20s, had a 9-month old baby. Then last night, I came across the Cheaper Than Therapy blog, where a mother is chronicling the story of her adult son's fight against this. And this morning my mom told me that someone I grew up with has been in ICU on a ventilator for three weeks with it.

I got my kids and myself the regular flu shot, but I was going to pass on the H1N1 vaccine. Too new, too untested, I told myself. But the more I hear about this, the more anxious I am about it. I keep checking our county health department site to find out when and where we can get the vaccine.

I sat my kids down this morning and gave them all a lecture about washing hands and covering coughs. I'm considering instituting a ban on sleepovers because those all nighters don't really do anything to help their immune systems.

The building where I work has a community health clinic on the first floor and WIC offices on the second floor. For the past 5 weeks, I've taken the stairs to my third floor office (no touching the handrails!) because I'm sure that there are fewer germs in the stairwell than on the elevator. Then I hit the hand sanitizer as soon as I get to my office to get rid of whatever germs might have been lurking in the stairway.

And the thought of germs on Halloween candy that gets handed out tonight? I think I just have to say a prayer about that because that just might push me over the edge.

I'm trying to temper my anxiety with the knowledge that we know several people who've had it who, while being really miserable for several days, have not had severe complications.

Are you concerned? If it's available, will you get the vaccine for yourself and/or your kids? Do you think giving the teachers decorator bottles of hand sanitizer for Christmas is a little over the top?

Porcine paranoia

I'm trying not to get all freaked out about this swine flu business, but I have to say I'm losing my own fight.

Earlier in the week, I reminded my kids that the best way we can avoid the swine flu is to wash, wash, wash our hands. I work in a building with a community health center on the first floor and welfare offices on the second floor, so I've been taking the stairs to my third floor office when I can and washing my hands ASAP on the occasions I've ridden the elevator.

But yesterday, they announced that two elementary schools here will be closed for at least a week due to confirmed cases of swine flu. Then I started to get a little more nervous. I have friends whose kids go to one of the schools. It's in the same township as my own kids' school.

Tonight at church, Fr. Scott announced that we would not be holding hands during the Our Father and would be exchanging verbal greetings, not handshakes, at the sign of peace. I looked around and was suddenly glad that we'd chosen to go to 5:30pm Mass -- not only because we get to sleep in, but because fewer people attend that Mass than the Sunday morning services.

When it was time for Communion, all the communion distributors came out from behind the sanctuary obviously rubbing hand sanitizer into their hands. Maybe they've always done that, but tonight I noticed it. Then I leaned over to my kids and told them not to take the wine. I thought it might be paranoia, but when I saw at least two church members who are doctors skip the wine too, I felt vindicated. Frankly, I'm surprised that they still offered the wine at communion.

I'd already promised the kids we would have Fazoli's for dinner after church. But all the talk (and thought) about pandemic at church made me a little hesitant. Still, it was already almost 7pm and we were all hungry. So I compromised and did the Fazoli's drive-thru. That way we could at least avoid the germs that might be lurking on the tables, booths and the self-service pop machines.

I haven't bought face masks (no need to -- I have them left over from the post-911 emergency kit) and I'm not barricading the kids in the house (yet), but I am trying to be prudent.

Anyone else got swine flu on the brain?