Learning to appreciate the regular flu
With the intense national — and global — focus on a deadly “novel coronavirus” these past three years, it’s easy to forget how deadly the regular flu is.
According to the CDC, which has always had a hard time pinning down the exact numbers, the flu has been killing anywhere from 17,000 to 97,000 Americans every year since 2012.
Healthline says the flu has caused at least “3.5 million flu illnesses, 34,000 hospitalizations, and 2,000 deaths” in the United States this season.
And I was among its victims.
I went to the ER to make sure it was the bug causing my issues, and that my heart and fundamentals were sound — and I am very lucky they were (and are).
Then I returned home and commenced immediately lying in the same spot without moving — no food, nothing — for the next four days.
My teeth itched. I felt like a piano was sitting on my chest. The nausea would not relent.
It was one of the best weeks of my life.
It’s a challenge all too common in affluent America: you can easily lose sight of how good you have it until you are reminded how bad things can get.
I recall filling my truck up for $40 a tank not long ago — and now it costs $70 a tank.
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Copyright 2022 Tom Purcell, All Rights Reserved. Credit: Cagle.com
