Friday Tidbits: Staying Safe from the Flu

Visions of people around the country wanting to be admitted to hospitals have haunted our newscasts in the last few days as "the flu" spreads at a maddening pace. There is footage of doctors, as well as patients, wearing face masks in ER's and the worst footage is perhaps MASH-type tents being set up outside at least one hospital I saw on TV. The flu season is in full swing on steroids, even though calendar-wise, flu season is just really beginning.  Those viruses out there have swept the country in unanticipated numbers, catching everyone off guard, it appears.  People who don't normally get flu shots, though they make sure that their children and elderly parents do, are running to get those flu shots now, hoping for the best.

What is the CFIDS/ME/CFS patient to do?  Most of us have compromised immune systems. I know I do.  Often it feels as if all anyone in my family needs to do is look at me crossed-eyed and I'll come down with everything but the Bubonic Plague, and there are days when I wouldn't be at all surprised if that happened to me as well, especially with my glowing record of health lately. (Yes, the cellulitis IS getting better but I can tell that this cruddy thing has wiped me out.)

I, personally, can't afford to get the flu shot.  I've had it more than once (idiot that I am, I'm always game, thinking surely I over-reacted last time!) with disastrous results.  So, what's a person with a compromised immune system to do short of living in a plastic bubble - often something I almost fear I'm getting perilously close to doing myself? (Joke?)

Here are some tips which I follow.  Some are a bit (?) unorthodox.  Some are obvious.  All will keep you as healthy as you can be, if you're able to "live" with them.  I happen to be of a "most" severely ill CFIDS/ME/CFS patient, so you yourself need to decide how far you have to go to get through the flu season as safely as possible.

1. Don't make appointments for anything but the most vital of doctor visits. I was supposed to see my endocrinologist the other day and he canceled with an emergency. I think that may have been a blessing in disguise.  Despite all the problems I'm now experiencing, I'm not sure I need to add flu to them, so when we reschedule, it'll probably be for mid-March or April 1st, our usual time, when all danger of my catching most bugs is past. (April 1st: don't you just love my sense of humor?  But it's the usual day my new doctor appointments normally begin!)
2. Don't go to the dentist until flu season is over!  My own dentist has more or less kept me to that "pact," not allowing me to schedule teeth cleaning, dental work that seems necessary but really can wait, despite my "I just can't take it anymore" attitude at weak moments.  He's seen and heard what happens to me during flu season (heck, even non-flu season is a risk) and won't allow me to be scheduled.  (Have I mentioned that I love the guy?)
3. This is NOT the time to be going to movies, and I say this despite my love of the Oscars and, that as I type this, The Film Critics Awards are on.  Talk about a breeding ground for germs and everything else under the sun!  I thought about trying a matinee but realized how really stupid that would be in my case.  So, nix the movies until this flu has been gotten under control, at the very least.
4. IF you have to go to see your doctor for anything that's earth-shattering, you may want to consider my very strange, but effective, strategy.  I've had enough of waiting rooms and getting ill.  So, hubs goes and sits in my place and I sit in the car with my Kindle and we wait separately.  When it's my turn he comes out to get me from the car, I come in through the back entrance, bypassing the dreaded waiting room and though I haven't had the nerve to Lycol my way in, it may come to that.  I'm still coming down with too many health problems after seeing my GP or any doctor for that matter.
5. Wear gloves if possible, in order to stay safe from door handles, and other places that lurk without you suspecting them.  Stop the shopping!  Do you realize how many people have touched those items in the store before you?
6. Do NOT allow your friends or family to use your cell phone. There's no need to get that close to anyone's phone any longer.
7. If need be, start a fashion trend of your own and wear a face mask if you're going to the mall, etc. (Not that you should be, but it's your health at stake.)  I've looked at footage of the Japanese in the past and thought, why in the world don't we wear face masks on the street, in malls, etc.?  I think this might be the year to start this movement here in the States.  (I know, I know.  It's never going to happen but a girl can dream!)
8. Do not shake hands with people and do not give real hugs to people!  My GP almost fell over when I wouldn't shake his hand when the swine flu was a real threat.  Then I found out he'd had a few cases and *I* almost fell over.  I wanted to escape as quickly as I could haul myself out of there!
9. Washing your hand with soap and water is best, I think, but since that's not always possible, carry hand sanitizer with you if you want/need to go out. The normal ones out there are fine but if you can't tolerate them, Jurlique makes a wonderful moisturizing one, for a more "natural" and gentler formula and for softer hands.  It's available at Beauty.com or Sephora.  Any other sanitizers are available from the drugstore.com website, so there's no need to stop at the CVS or wherever you get those sorts of products.  And I always love to read the customer reviews.  Shipping is free with a $25 minimum order.
10. Try to get everyone around you to cough into their elbows. I admit this would be great for me to master, but old dog that I am, I've not been able to master this new trick.  It's a good thing I don't go out!  (Or maybe it's precisely BECAUSE I don't go out that I've not formed this "new" habit.)
11. And finally, when you get home, walk to the nearest sink and wash your hands immediately.  Then strip down and get on clean (germ and virus-free) clothes as fast as you can.
12. Try cracking your windows at home open a tiny bit to let in the fresh air and sweep out the stale, germ and virus-laden air which can't help getting in the house from those who live with you.

A final thought: keep in mind what the rules are for a new-born baby visit in the hospital if you're not sure what procedures need to be observed.  Washing hands before seeing a new-born, check.  Covering your clothes before touching a new-born, check.  You get the picture!  Keep that in mind and you'll hopefully survive intact.

And here's hoping that everyone stays safe.  No, I won't be one of those getting the flu shot, but I have good reason not to.  Do you have questions?  CALL your doctor and see if you can get information from him/her as to whether you need to be seen or not.  Consider calling an ER before going over, if you think you need to be seen.  Often things just need to run their course and going to an ER can lead you to unneeded exposure to bugs you'd be best staying away from!  Again, talk to health professionals - especially those doctors who know you best - so that they can lead you in the right direction.

Here's hoping that all are doing their best, only better.  Stay safe everyone.  Ciao and paka!


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Friday Tidbits: Bits & Bobs of Help

An idea of the switch-in-the-cord idea,though not the sort of lamp I'd use for bedside. (But oh so pretty!)

It's Friday again and once again I'm so happy to see the week is coming to a close.  (I've written that a bit too often lately, haven't I?)  The family's been stricken with various degrees of the bug which never went away, all because of the freakishly warm winter of last year.  More than ever, I'm personally looking forwards to a few good, hard freezes to kill off as many of the viruses and bacteria as possible, those looming around our town. Last night hubs was almost spitting bullets because I had sheets of sweat coming off of me as I tried to write my post. Today, I can see that the worst is almost over, but I still just want to sleep, though still not sleeping as much nor as well as a "normal" person would.  Everything's relative!

Oh Dyson DC35, how I love ya!

• In fact, talk about sleeping: I've had more sleep this week than I've had in years!  I wake up and am totally miserable but finally fall back asleep for a minimum of a two-hour nap, unable to keep my eyes open.  Who knew there could be an upside to my flu?  
• Not too long ago, my BFF and I were on FaceTime and one of the things that came up (we CAN and DO talk about everything, anything and nothing, for hours at a time) was that she brought a gem of a vacuum cleaner.  She recommended that I buy the Dyson "digital slim," dubbed by Dyson to be "the most powerful cordless vacuum."  Well, I finally ordered it from Amazon and their description is no exaggeration, so good, in fact, that I quote:

• The Dyson Digital Slim vacuum cleaner has twice the suction power of any other lightweight cordless vacuum cleaner in use, making it the most powerful cordless vacuum. It is ideal for quick, flexible cleaning on all floor types, stairs, upholstery and inside the car. 

• Dyson engineers developed the DC35 for versatile spot cleaning- it’s suitable for every floor surface: carpet, vinyl, tile and wood. It has a motorized floor tool with two types of brushes. Ultra-fine conductive carbon fiber brushes remove fine dust from hard floors. Rotating nylon bristles remove ground-in dirt from carpets.

• The detachable long-reach wand is made from lightweight aluminium. It reaches high, low and into awkward spaces. You can also remove it and use DC35 as a handheld. A docking station conveniently stores and recharges the machine when not in use, or the battery can also be recharged separately from the machine."

I was thrilled to see that it was all and more than BFF (and Dyson) had described.  It's especially good for anyone who is sick and can't do much.  It breaks down into small parts and you can actually do stairs with a minimum of effort.  There are no pesky cords to mess around with (I absolutely have an OCD-like loathing of cords of any sort) and can grab it quickly for a small job like the carpet that's by my bed, without worrying about overdoing it.  And because it's so easy to use, you end up using it a LOT!  (Actually, it's quite addictive!)  For more on this miracle product, see this link.  It's worth every penny!  Check the before and after Christmas sales as BFF found a 20% off sticker price on Black Friday weekend, too late for either of us, alas, though we're not at all remorseful because it's just THAT incredible!  And a note: I had a bit of a sparkle and glitter episode from some Christmas ornaments we recently bought.  It was EVERYWHERE.  The Dyson DS35 took on the mess as if it were fighting the merest of jobs.  Phew!  

• With Christmas quickly looming ahead, I'm not sure we'll even get to finish the trimming this year. As soon as the lights were up on the tree, the ER runs started in.  It's a rather nasty GI bug. Forget about the outside of the house: we've only slapped a wreath onto the front door, this in a neighborhood and town known for its "city of lights" reputation with well over a million tourists coming in for the festivities.  Frankly, I'm surprised the neighbors haven't run us out of town yet. (I'm certain that they're giving us a year's grace period before doing so, so we have GOT to get back on track by next year!)  I'm trying my best to be mature and realize that hubs and I are no longer young enough (what???) to do the outside decorations ourselves and will have to start looking for someone to do the honors next year.  I suppose, too, that that IS the responsible thing for the person with CFIDS/ ME/CFS and/or fibromyalgia to do, though how I hate giving in.  But, it's all about "health credits" and "spoons" now. 
• And finally, such a seemingly mundane "little" thing which is driving me loony-tunes.  I'm looking for the lamp I had by my nightstand before we'd temporarily moved up to the attic.  It was the sort that has the on/off switch on a cord and, it turns out, it's such a great feature to have.  The on/off switch would rest against the side of my nightstand and it was so easy to just move my hand over ever so slightly and have the light off.  Instead, now I need to reach all the way over, through a jungle of items, trying not to knock anything down as my hand searches for the actual lamp in order to turn it off in the "usual" fashion.  Nine times out of ten, it wakes me up if I'm just about to fall asleep, often with a bit of a disaster as things fall over. With the little cord by my side, it was so easy to turn the lamp on and off... absolutely wonderful for the insomniac. If you have trouble with sleep and get upset because of the lamp issue, consider the lamp with a (toggle?) switch on the cord.  Oh my: who knew that there IS a wire out there that doesn't get on my nerves, but the very opposite.

And that's it for the day!  I hope that everyone's doing their best, only better and enjoys the weekend!   Ciao and paka!

My bite-sized morsels of helpful beauty hints...

Now listen to Irene's advice!  (In  London, late '80's, "centuries" ago.)

When I first started imagining the possibility of a blog I always thought that one of the first things I’d do was to set aside a day of the week, or distinguish in some way (of course, inevitably with a very cheesy title), the "survivor" tricks and/or tips I've come across that have helped me over these past centuries.  OK.  I exaggerate.  It only feels like centuries.
  
Some of these may seem ridiculous to readers out there but I’m taking the garage sale approach: one person’s junk may be another person’s treasure.   If they work for me, perhaps they'll work for you too.  It would be wonderful to be able have a few exchanges about them in the comments section.  These tips are not exclusive to those with CFIDS, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, insomnia, migraines, pain, cognitive disorders, etc.  They are and will be, I hope, helpful to anyone who is chronically ill, or to the care-giver of a chronically ill person. 

So with no more further ado, here we go for the first three of what I hope will be a series!

• 1. "Water-in-a-can": This is not an altogether new concept to me but this winter it was a life-saver.  Ages ago, I was gifted a small can of Dior, I believe, and it was wonderful when I needed to fly halfway around the world to Australia, with four plane changes in each direction.  It was wonderful in that dry nasty cabin air.  I bought a couple of the Evian cans of spray much later but proceeded to forget them - of course!  After my surgery and the whole near-death nonsense, plus the flu that wouldn't go away, I wasn't running just my normal two or three fevers a day.  Suddenly my body temperature was jumping around like someone practicing some sort of Joplin-type scales on the piano.  Somehow I happened to remember that I had a couple of cans of aerosol waters and actually found them, a minor miracle.

Oh, I know it's not a good idea for the environment but given how little I do or use, I actually have very little carbon foot-printing, so I thought I was due a few points.

I know people and beauty pro's often scoff at these cans, even laughing at the gullibility of some people.  But let me tell you: a plastic mist bottle filled with water does not have the same effect the water-in-a-can does - I've tried!  The aerosol hits you mildly in the face, like a fine drizzle on a warm spring English morning or a crisp fall day.  The Brits have gorgeous skin.  Do they stand out in the rain (the equivalent of the plastic mist bottle) or do they prefer their "constitutional" when there is a mist in the air?

Furthermore, because the water is in a metal can, it stays rather cool, even when spending weeks and months on your nightstand.

And finally, I think that there really is something to the water from the Alps. When my mom and I were in Germany and Austria I remember saying to her that I could easily move there permanently.  I'd not felt so healthy in...well, I'm not sure that I'd ever felt that great.  And the water was just so delicious that I couldn't stop drinking it.  Evian is the most famous of these "waters-in-a-can," but I really love the Avene.  Btw: I have not tried Vichy's as of yet.  Anyway, this is a huge success in my book, for fevers, wacky body temperature changes and dry eye, mouth, etc.

• 2. Micellar water: specifically, Bioderma Crealine H2o Ultra-mild Non-rinse Face and Eyes Cleanser:

This was a huge find for me thanks to one of my favorite blogs, A Model Recommends, subsequently seen in other places too.  Apparently it's a huge trade secret in the beauty industry and makeup artists use this a LOT, from what I understand, since it seems that almost no one has an adverse reaction to it.  And BTW, you might want to get rid of those wipes for anything but emergencies.  They scratch your skin badly.

The Bioderma is micellar water, supposedly pretty much high tech and various types of this micellar water seem to be popping up everywhere, if the internet is anything to go by. I understand the principle but not well enough to explain what actually occurs.  But I bought a small bottle of it from Amazon and plan to order two large bottles soon, afraid to run out.  According to Sephora, which carries the Caudalie version (also wonderful but a bit more expensive) micellar water "gently, yet thoroughly cleanses and removes makeup. Micellar water captures dirt like tiny "dirt magnets" and sweeps it away without rubbing, while the soothing and hydrating active ingredients work to add radiance."  I've run this by my favorite science go-to person and HE thinks it makes sense and I love it...it's worth a try.

When I don't have the energy to wash my face, which is most days, I now pour a small amount on a cotton pad and my face feels fresh, clean, healthy and soft.  If I've been wearing makeup - wow.  This stuff works!  Even without makeup, my cotton pad comes away surprisingly dirty.  In France, Bioderma is sold in pharmacies and is incredibly inexpensive, as well as popular.  In the end, for us here the States, the Bioderma is a bit less expensive than those wipes.

• 3. Keep a thermometer next to your bed:

With many, our body temps go up and down so frequently that we're never sure if it's the room or us.  I am always putting on and taking off the PJ tops or knit tank-top-like cardigans I use as "bed jackets" because of screwy limbic system problems.  However, if it's the room at fault, then you can fix it!

I'd also suggest that you may try to figure out what temperature your body does best with. My traitor-body seems to want 70 degrees exactly.  Any higher and I'm sweating, short and about as mad and annoyed as a wet hen...not a pretty picture.  If the temperature is below 70, I start to freeze, tremble, shake, my legs get more mottled. Also not a pretty picture. 

This temperature thing sounds as if we are spoiled little prima donnas, but please, don't let that bother you. Keep in mind that other illnesses are affected by temperature, MS being a great example, especially since CFIDS and MS are often interchangeably misdiagnosed.  This, BTW, was a very important point, so you may want to underline it somewhere in your foggy brain for future references. (Smile! Someone understands!)

Remember, you are not crazy.  The ones around you who do not realize how sick you are are the ones who need some sort of help, some training in sensitivity or the implant of a chip which would give them the ability to feel compassion, this later "chip" insight given to me just this past week by a friend. And this, unfortunately, is no laughing matter.

I certainly hope this helps. Good luck and remember, there are those who understand what you're going through...those who suffer the same illnesses you do.  They ARE out there.