Brian Alvey: Flu Fighters

A few weeks ago my year-old daughter had a 104-degree fever that Tylenol and Motrin wouldn't touch -- only baths. She was miserable. Niki took her to the doctor thinking she had an ear infection. They tested her for the flu and the results came back negative.

Days later another doctor at the same office told us she had swine flu. At that point she had been sick for so long they decided Tamiflu wouldn't help. Fortunately they explained that swine flu is often only fatal if you have another underlying condition like asthma or diabetes. They also explained that 30% of the flu tests that come back negative are wrong.

Last week I woke up with a bad cold and aching muscles all over. Niki was worried since I don't handle the flu very well so she immediately made a doctor appointment for me. I was at his office passing my flu test before my first fever kicked in. I took Tamiflu and Advil for five days. My pharma-conspiracy friends were thrilled to hear that even with a good insurance plan my out-of-pocket Tamiflu bill for ten pills was $86.

I only did two conference calls last week. I skipped the Twitter conference in NYC. I drank plenty of Gatorade, read a lot and rested. I watched some great Law & Order episodes from last season Niki had saved on TiVo.

I feel really lucky that it didn't knock me out as badly as previous flus have and that I finally felt normal again in time for Father's Day yesterday.

Swine flu beaten -- now to conquer my overflowing inbox.

Comments (3)

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Eliot 273 days ago

Wow, glad to hear you came out of that okay.
Dorie 273 days ago

The way I see it, $86 is still cheaper than an ER co-insurance payment. Kudos to Niki for taking the symptoms seriously and to you for being a good Dad as a compliant patient! At the Alvey home, "the bug stops here".
Brian Alvey 272 days ago

I agree. I've had week-long flus in the past that wrecked me. This one slowed me down and we were worried, but I'm feeling better every day. Thanks!

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