Tuesday 19 November 2013

Tis the season to get flu-jabbed...fa la la la la, la la la la.

I am a fan of the flu-jab and have it every year.  Since I started taking up the yearly offer of a free NHS inoculation I have never had another bout of flu.  And I don't mean 'the sniffles' flu, I mean flat-out unable to get out of bed, semi-conscious and unable to eat, couldn't look after myself or my diabetes if it happened again, kind of flu. I've only had it twice, but one of those occasions I can't remember at all; I have to be told how ill I was.  The other time I remember attempting to come down on Christmas morning and after 20 minutes of bumping into walls and unsuspecting family members, I keeled back into bed again.  I next woke up the following day, having totally missed Christmas. I don't fancy trying my hand at managing diabetes, cannula changes or carb-counting under those circumstances if I can avoid it.

People often passionately exclaim tell me they "don't believe in it" or "it's a waste of time", but the last people who told me that did so over the splutters and sniffs of a very nasty bout of flu that sent them to bed for 4 days and despite sharing a car journey and accommodation with them for several days, did not come my way.

For me, it simply removes some of the risk.  I am lucky that I have a Jamie in my life so risks of stealthy overnight hypos or Diabetic Ketoacidosis due to illness are lower, but to place the responsibility on him to look after me during those times is not necessary, if it can be avoided.  He isn't, nor should he have to be, responsible for looking after me if I fall ill, so if I can get a jab that will raise my chances of fighting any bugs off, is a no-brainer. It rates the same on my list as keeping a spare box of cannulas in my cupboard, or a spare needle in my blood testing kit.  It is just a safetynet.

So this morning I whipped to my GP surgery for my free jab and went on my merry way no less more than 6 minutes later.  Job done.

Do you get the jab?  Or are you in camp 'no'?

2 comments:

  1. totally camp jab :)

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  2. Yep I get jabbed….fortunately only had flu once when I was fairly young, so never sure how much I would have caught flu. Going on my family we seem to be fairly hardy when it comes to flu and none of them have had it very often, so never sure what the difference is. Have you had the pneumonia one…now that jab hurts and I felt really rough after that one!

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