Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Rallying the Troops and Feeding Them Chicken Soup

We've got casualties. They're lying around like zombies, moaning pathetically every once in a while, stretched out on the living room couches and watching all the seasons of Parks & Rec over and over. Every once in a while I nag them to drink something so they stay hydrated, or I offer some natural remedy that admittedly sounds disgusting and which they immediately reject.

What? An anti-flu concoction composed of cayenne pepper, sea salt, chamomile tea, and Bragg's apple cider vinegar diluted in a glass of filtered water doesn't sound good? Fine. I'll drink it. You'll notice I am not sick.

Gabrielle was diagnosed with influenza and pneumonia. Sian seems to have escaped with just influenza, and Elannah is exhibiting the symptoms of a very bad cold that is making her increasingly miserable (but not miserable enough to stay away from the computer). Joseph has vomited a couple times, but there is no fever or respiratory distress (hallelujah, as he is one of my asthmatics). Also Joseph's version of throwing up sometimes constitutes choking a little on some food and then spitting a lot. I'm hardly ever impressed when he tells me he's thrown up. Little Gary seems to be just fine, and Sophia has a stuffy nose but isn't coughing or feeling like an elephant is sitting on her chest (another hallelujah for Sophia, who is also asthmatic). I'll keep a close eye on that.

I hate to jinx myself, but I have barely even had a sniffle. I'm still doing the oil pulling thing twice a day (as is Husband), and I'm drinking the anti-flu remedy and eating the mung beans I sprouted like they're candy and taking a daily magnesium supplement. I vow to hold strong, brandishing my coconut oil in one hand and the fizzy Vitamin C tablets in the other. I've got my arsenal of deep, leafy greens and my essential oils. I'm sprouting some more mung beans. If I go down, I will go down fighting.

Now it's time for me to get back into the battlefield and start nagging the troops to drink more fluids.


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