I don’t panic too often, and I’m not panicking now. I’m mildly furious that the current administration is choosing just NOW to treat this as a pandemic and Janet Napolitano is still choosing to be passive on border crossings. We should have stopped border crossings the minute we knew this was a new breed of influenza-it’s a cross between swine, bird and human and apparently there is no natural immunity to it. So, I’m preparing my family for the possibility of this flu.

If you suspect you have this flu and choose to go to your doctor-do NOT just go to the doctor. Call ahead. They can usher you directly to a room, in order to not infect others around you.

Do wash your hands often. I’m not particularly fond of the soaps with all the anti-bacterials. A good old fashioned soap works well. Make sure you don’t touch your eyes, nose and mouth a lot after being in public.

Nutritionally-eat well. Make sure to get the proper foods, such as vegetables, fruits, good fibers(rices, cruciferous vegetables) and plenty of water.

Herbally, you can start now to boost your imunity. Add a good vitamin C to your daily regime. 1000 mg can’t hurt. Keep zinc on hand, in case you suspect you are infected. Vitamin D is a wonderful immune booster, so get some good sunshine now.

Elder berry extracts are incredible at stopping a flu in it’s tracks. A tea is also effective. The flowers induce fever. Licorice root is also an effective immune builder and good for building your body back up during an illness. Astragalus root will help build resistance to illness and disease. Garlic is a very effective antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal.
When we are ill here, we use 1/3 a cup elder berry and put it in a quart jar and fill it to the brim with vodka and let it soak for 5 days. If you can’t wait to make your own, there are many good extracts available for purchase at many health food stores. We also mince an entire head of garlic and place it in a pint jar and then cover it with unpasturized honey and let it sit overnight, then use a tablespoon 3 or 4 times a day. If you are sick, make sure you drink plenty of water and herbal teas. Forego juices, as they often have sugars added. Sugar will lower your white blood cells by 50% and up to 4 hours, making it much harder for your body to kick the bug. A good echinacea tincture taken every two hours will help. A good tea for coughing is 1 tablespoon of peppermint, 1 tsp thyme and 1/8 a tsp cayenne pepper, steeped for 15 minutes and sweetend with honey. Chamomile is antibacterial also, and the steam makes a good effective steam in cases of sinus congestion.

Eat light foods, things that are easier to digest. Your body wants to concentrate on healing, not food digestion. A light chicken soup, made from scratch if you can, and a lot of garlic added is a wonderful comfort food. Rice cooked with a small amount of butter, chicken broth and garlic is good for sustenance.

The most important thing is to rest, stay hydrated and keep your lungs in good working order. This flu seems to strike the lungs hardest. It causes the airways to swell. Rest is essential to healing. Your body needs time to heal. Stay home from work. Please, dont’ take Niquil and head off to work. Niquil makes you feel greaet, but it really only masks the symptoms and actually prolongs your illness, and also allows you to expose other people to the germs.

Tamiflu is showing effectiveness in treatment, if it’s caught early and if you make that choice.

And please, call your Senators and Congressmen. Tell them to shut our borders. Tell them to stop the influx of illegal immigrants that are sharing these diseases with us.

Stay healthy!