I woke up yesterday with what appeared to be a flu of some sort; body aches, fatigue, dry cough, chills. My bones were saying “Uh, Oh!” I reached into my medicine cabinet and took my first dose of the homeopathic remedy “oscillococcinum” (pronounced o-sill-o-cox-see-num), dashed to my Farmers Market to purchase the ingredients for my organic chicken stock put all the ingredients into a large pot and used this onset as an excuse for mindless TV.

How lucky was I that there was a re-run of Legally Blonde. Love that scene when Reese Witherspoon (a.k.a. Elle Woods) reaches out to her support team with just one phone call on the “pink phone”. My TV time was sandwiched with a little economic teaser from NY Times columnist Paul Krugman, PhD on the Sunday talk show. Love the twinkle in his eye as he talks about our deficit.

Back to the flu: I increased my fluids to 80 ounces (10 eight ounce glasses), juiced lots of greens, hot lemon water, teas, warm filtered water and elderberry. Called my brilliant friend Vicki Sarnoff who recommended two therapeutic oils: Theives for the bottom of my feet and RC Essentials (eucalyptus + lavender) for my chest/ throat area and to tent and inhale.

Made one huge mistake. I watched 60-Minutes where they featured the H1N1 influenza. Got a little nervous (note to self: TURN OFF TV!) and remembered the pressure of vaccinating my son with the meningococcal vaccine prior to his enrollment at college in 2007 to prevent meningitis. However, there he was three weeks ago getting a lumbar puncture at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC confirming meningitis. Good news ~ it was viral not bacterial.

Vaccinations are a personal choice. I choose rest, lots of fluids, homeopathic remedies, vitamin C 3 (4000 mg), Zinc, oils, elderberry for my cough, lots and lots of homemade organic chicken soup, veggies, NO SUGAR and mindless tasks.

Here’s to a flu-less season!

From my bones to yours,

Irma