Ducking viruses, caught by bacteria...

(Updated!)

Dry, racking cough. Slight fever. Fatigue.

I am sick again.

Yeah.

Well, this is putting a crimp into hitting the gym. I am resting, drinking plenty of fluids, taking azithromycin, prescribed Tuesday just in case bacteria that could cause strep throat, bronchitis, pneumonia or whatever is trying to establish residence in my body.

My family and I have been ducking viruses only to get caught by bacteria. They are different.

Mom got sick a couple of weeks ago, followed by Dad. Guess I should have expected that I would next. I thought I had dodged the illness bullet after spending the night with my mom and grandmother in an Elizabeth, N.J. hospital emergency room and not getting sick.

Two impossibly drunk men on gurneys flanked Gram’s tiny exam room. Those men were ruddy in complexion, disheveled, and bombed out of their minds. Looked like they had been through hell and back. I tried to hold my breath every time I walked past them.

Also took Gram to a couple of doctors’ appointments and sat amongst some folks who looked like they were expecting visits from the Reaper.

“It’s too late for you,” I half-expected a nurse to say to some of them. I am just grateful we all made it through that day.

This is the second time I have fallen ill since September. Back then, I could barely move for two weeks. I was weak, sore, had a nasty cough. It was rough. I am taking prednisone and methotrexate to suppress symptoms of heart and lung sarcoidosis. The drugs work by suppressing an immune system gone haywire, but that also leaves me vulnerable to all sorts of nasty infections the body usually fights off without problem.

We are in the process of tapering off the drug, but it is unclear how when we will be done. We’re still at 30 mg of prednisone a day. I want to cut it in half if possible and see if that does the trick. Ultimately, I want off these drugs and everything prescribed to deal with side effects.

Until then, my internist advises me to stay away from crowds. It is a microorganism jungle out there. The nasty ones have plenty of places to lurk. Let us start with the hands of food handlers and cashiers, which can be fleshy petri dishes teeming with all sorts of nasty organisms. Sometimes, those employees are one in the same – and many do not wash their hands after handling money or before they make a sandwich.

Grabbing a cup of coffee at the local 24-7 store? Everyone in the world has touches the cups, stirrers coffee pots, sweeteners. Coughs and sneezes on them. No one washes their hands before touching them. Yuck.

You have to be careful out there during the cold and flu season. Doctors see dozens of sick people and somehow maintain their health. This is how they do it. Good luck out there and be well.

Meanwhile, I’ll kick back and follow the doc’s and my mom’s advice. I want to get well enough to take my grandmother to the movies soon.

Writer's now cautious about next flu shot

My internist does not believe that my recent illness, which included "flu-like" symptoms that laid me low from Sept. 19 to Sept. 30 had anything to do with the seasonal flu vaccination shot.

"The virus is dead, you know that?" he said, referring to the shot.

"Yeah, I know the virus is dead. However, the Centers For Disease control even concedes that some people get sick from flu vaccinations," I responded. I don't want him to be on the defensive. I trust him, but I also want him to know I pay close attention to everything in connection with my on-going fight against sarcoidosis.

"Well, we may never know" what caused the illness, he said. And he is right. I take prednisone to fight the sarcoidosis in my heart and lungs. The drug suppresses the immune system, which during sarc flareups goes haywire and attacks vital organs.

The prednisone stops the attack but leaves the immune system gate wide open to be stormed by a host of germs and viruses. We'll never know where I picked up a bug.

I could have caught a nasty cold from someone in the mall, at a doctor's office, a super market, the movie theater, the library or book store - which is where I am writing this blog right now - someone needs to scrub that men's bathroom here, yo. Really.

The point is that I could have touched a door knob anywhere, picked up a germ, touched my mouth or rubbed my eyes and voila!. Instant illness.

Well, not instant....takes a few days to develop...Trouble is, it used to take a couple of days to get over the common cold. Now, on prednisone, it takes much longer and there's always a chance it could get worse.

That's why I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer, watching what's being sprayed in my direction (which sounds more disgusting than it is, I reckon). The internist recommends I stay in and away from places where crowds gather.

Stay in for the entire fall and winter? Fat chance. But I will avoid the crowds, which may mean scrapping plans to see my favorite band Living Colour later this month. That is a bummer, but I'll catch up with them eventually. Shopping, writing at B&N, I'll do all of that off-peak.

That big dude in the corner of B&N in Brick or Howell, the guy typing away while wearing a WWI gas mask... Might be me. Feel free to come over and say hello.

A few weeks ago, I wrote that I would be among the first in line rolling up my sleeve for the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccination. People with compromised immune systems should get it, the experts say. However, on the wake of my experience with the seasonal flu shot, I'm adopting a wait-and-see attitude. The cardiologist is cool with it.

"So maybe you allow a few weeks to go by and see what happens to the people who take the shot. You're a journalist so you'll be watching and researching anyway," said a cardiologist I visited this week. I was trying him out; thinking about employing him in my fight against sarc.

"So I should not take the shot, sit back and see if millions of people who get it die before I get it?" I asked.

"That's what I would do," the cardiologist responded.

He's hired. A man after my own heart.

...Good show, Chicago...

Too bad that President Barack Obama could not persuade the International Olympics Committee to award Chicago the 2016 Summer Olympics just on the off-chance that John L. Perry and the people at Newsmax.com who have supported him, and the Glenn Becks and Michael Steeles across our great land suffer a collective aneurysm from shock and die.



That was mean, I know. However, it wasn't unpatriotic, a trait demonstrated routinely by the Perrys, Becks and Steels of this nation. They continously wish ill against the country and its sitting president.

Perry even wrote how the country might benefit from coup d'etat - a military overthrow because one group one and another group lost the national election, the way it is explained in the U.S. Constitution, you know? Newsmax.com published it and then took it down when readers objected. I guess the people that run that site are only brave then not challenged.

Steele actually argued that winning the Olympic bid does nothing to immediately help the country. It would be a big confidence boost to a nation still undergoing tough times and it will mean jobs that start way before 2016, Mike. It takes a while to build for an Olympics.

Do you not undetstand that because your head is made of steel?

I'm sure they and others will take glee in the fact that the country lost the chance to showcase its splendor to the internationally community. I an almost hear Beck manically screaming, "We lost! Hip-hip hooray!"

So, Chicago didn't win. It's still a great city it can now turn its energy to worthwhile public projects, including improving infrastructure and schools and getting a handle on youth violence. Chicagoans, when they put their collective minds to it, can solve any problem.

Much luck, Chicago. Your success would be good for the country and it would also make the Perrys, Becks and Steels of the land choke, which is fine with me...