02/28/2026
2.27.26 eNEWS | PART 1 learn from my not-so-great experience & INTRODUCING...
MY RECENT EXPERIENCE
In this edition of eNEWS, I'm sharing many of the lessons I've learned and a few of the basic items I wish I'd had on hand as I navigated 3+ illness-filled weeks with the creeping-crud flu thing that is apparently going around these days.
In the last week I've talked to several other people who've had a similar, if not the same, flu thing; as we compared notes, it's apparent that something crazy - and beyond what we consider normal - is going around right now.
PRACTICAL INFO
In today's eNEWS, you'll find many practical ideas and recipes you can use to prepare for illness, as well as some practical suggestions for resources to have on hand for anyone who may come down with this flu or any other creeping crud.
My intent is to share what I experienced and learned - so if the time comes that your family is facing the creeping crud, it's easier for you to navigate it all. 😀 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FEATURE ARTICLE | learn from my not-so-great experience
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wednesday January 22nd I went for a haircut, ran some errands and enjoyed the day while also preparing to be out and about for most of the following day.
The following day dawned, I went out to watch sunrise, feeling not-so-great, and within a couple of hours was feeling like I'd been hit by a Mack truck. Not exciting.
IT'S ALL DOWNHILL
Usually for me the flu comes on, hangs around for a day, tapers off on day 3, and by day 4 I'm back to the land of the living. Not in this case . . . whooh!.
On Saturday January 25th - day 3, I expected that all the flu-things should be tapering off, then I read a post on FB from Anita Moorjani that made me stop short.:
As I read her post I just got that sinking feeling. . .that little voice inside telling me 'yup, THIS is what's going on, just relax, cause you're in for the ride.' UGH.
EVERY FLU I'D EVER HAD
Over the course of the next three weeks, it felt like every flu I've ever had in my life was cycling through my system, one by one. One day was achy body with a sore swollen throat, next day was the flu with digestive upset, day following that, was the flu with pounding headache. . . and on it went.
The one constant through all the flu-iterations was the achy body, deep congestion and incessant coughing. Stuck in bed, for sure. Lots and lots and lots of sleep.
EARACHES
As week 2 rolled around, earaches in both ears became a part of the experience; the kind that won't let you sleep at night. Mind you, I haven't had an earache since I was 13 or so years old, so this seemed totally bizarre!
The second night of the earaches, I was wishing I had hot water bottles to place on each ear. But I didn't. The best I could come up with was to put very hot water on a couple of heavy duty washcloths, put them in a ziploc, and apply them to each ear. I did that. It helped a little. I was able to sleep for an hour or so at a time, then had to refresh the hot water. That got old, but I did it so I could get some sleep.
As I climbed out of bed the next morning, I felt a rush of liquid running down the side of my face and neck.- coming from both ears - my ear drums had ruptured. Not exciting! Nothing I could do about it at this point. My hearing was completely gone. THAT was disconcerting!
For some reason, during the day the earaches weren't so intense, which was a relief, so I got through the day without much ear pain, but the drainage every morning continued every morning for a few days.
ONION MEDICINE
Something sparked a memory of hearing that onions are helpful for earache relief as well as for flu symptom relief. I got online, searching for info about earaches, flu and onions. Theres a LOT of info out there. . .some of it seemed viable, some of it not so much. Either way, I felt encouraged to work with onions.
That night as I turned in for the night, the earache was subtle, so I was able to sleep for an hour and a half or so, then the ache woke me up - at that point it had become intense. With all the onion remedies I'd read about, I decided to slice up the one onion I had on hand and try it for some relief from the earaches.
I sliced the onion in a couple of thick slices, warmed them on a cast iron skillet, wrapped cheese cloth around them and held them against my ears. Ohhhh, sweet relief! It was almost immediate. The warmth felt SO good. I was able to relax and sleep for a few hours.
Once the onions cooled, the aching increased, so I got up, cut a couple more slices of onion, warmed them, wrapped them and again applied them to my ears. That got me through the rest of the night. When I woke in the morning, again my eardrums ruptured, liquid running down the side of my face and neck.
Next night, I repeated the process for onion-ears, as well as preparing slices of onion to wrap and hold on the bottom of my feet. I'll share more about why I chose to do that, below. It helped, for sure.
TURNING A CORNER
After a few days of the intense earaches, I turned a corner; no longer sleeping hours on end during the day, so I was able to sit at my desk and do a hour or so of work.
Because of the ruptured eardrums and ear goings-on, I was effectively deaf. I felt ok being awake during the day, but didn't have the energy to read, and trying to watch a movie on my iPad was sketchy.because I couldn't hear anything. I had to turn on the closed-captioning so I could at least read the dialogue.
I have to say, the not being able to hear part was the most disconcerting aspect of this creeping crud. At the point where I didn't feel like sleeping all day, I had enough energy to watch a movie, but I would have rather caught up with some of my friends with a phone call - only thing was, my voice wasn't understandable, and on the flip-side, I could only hear someone on the phone if I help the little speaker outlet directly next to my ear. None of it was a recipe for great conversation. So I slept on and off, watched a movie here and there, and worked in my office for a bit when I could.
LITTLE BY LITTLE
As time went on, and the flu phases cycled through, I was getting better little by little, so when I felt up to it, I'd work in my office for an hour or two, sleep for a couple of hours, then work another hour or two. Some days I could only muster an hour in the office, then I was down for the rest of the day.
And so it continued as my energy began to return. Friday February 13th I finally felt 'normal' enough to run some errands and get back to the land of the living. Not able to hear, but at least able to function.
My hearing is still on the mend. Slowly it seems to be returning. I can hear almost 100% in my right ear. My left ear still sounds like I'm under water when I speak, and is muffled when I'm trying to listen to someone - so there's a ways more to go with it.
I'VE LEARNED SOME THINGS
Rather than bore you with any more of the illness details - I'll share some of the things I've learned through it all, as well as some things I wish I'd known.
LEARN FROM MY EXPERIENCE
Again, I'm hoping that by sharing, you can learn from my not-so-great experience and prepare for the inevitable unexpected illnesses - whether it's THIS creeping crud that's going around right now, or something else in the future.. 😀
THE #1 MISTAKE YOU CAN MAKE
The number one mistake you can make is the #1 mistake I made - to procrastinate, or wait till you have a need, an emergency, are sick or have a sick family member to begin building - or restocking - your home apothecary.
Now is the time to prepare
I have a robust home apothecary, but I'd let some of the key components get used up and hadn't restocked. Don't make the same mistake I made.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
