“Flu” Is Not the Past Tense of “To Fly”

When influenza comes calling

Deborah Barchi

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2 min read

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Sep 9, 2024

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We say the word “flu”, and make it sound like some little fly speck annoyance of an illness. But for the past week I have felt like the stunned victim of a head on crash down a one-way street.

The flu comes in many flavors, all ghastly, and all force fed down our gasping throats. My version this week has been an unrelenting cough, day and night, that has left me struggling for a full breath, and with ribs so painful I have felt they might split apart like dry twigs.

Having lost a sense of smell and taste, looking at any bit of food, even a piece of chocolate, has left me feeling nauseous. For the first time in my life, I have felt no desire to open, let alone read a book.

Perhaps worst of all has been a feeling of exhaustion and fragility that has left me too…