The Flu

Nothing is as bad as the flu.
Torture would be nice compared to this.

The other day I noticed that Arnold wasn't looking so good,
And the more I thought about it I realised I didn't feel so good myself,
So I went and got the thermometer
And I took my temperature,
Arnold doesn't like thermometers.
I couldn't believe it,
It was a hundred and five,
So we dragged ourselves to the doctor.
The doctor said we had something called Shanghai A,
It was awful.
And although it was a couple of weeks ago
I remember it as though it were yesterday.

I start to shiver
And then I sweat,
The room is spinning
and my bed is wet.
My head hurts so much
I can't think,
My lungs hurt so much
I can't breathe.

What is as bad as the flu? -- Nothing!
What would be nice compared to this? -- Torture!

We start to shiver
And then we sweat,
The room is spinning
and our bed is wet.

My head hurts so much
I can't think,
My lungs hurt so much
I can't breathe.

Drink lots of herb tea
and chicken soup,
Bundle your neck up,
Wear a hat.

These are a few things you can do,
Don't take a chance or you'll get the flu.

---

I haven't been writing many reviews in the last few days. I've decided to explain why not with a song by Karen Mantler. I haven't even been watching films at home. My head hurts too much to concentrate. I just spend all day in bed.

Before you say "Everyone gets the flu", let me tell you that this isn't a normal flu for me. It's the worst flu I've had in 28 years. It's easy for me to remember. In the late 1980's I often had severe flus that knocked me off my feet. My doctor told me that it was caused by my tonsils. He said my tonsils were "sucking germs into my body", but he didn't want to recommend my tonsils being removed, because he said that removing tonsils at older ages can cause complications. Eventually I became so sick in early 1990 that he said there was no alternative.

In May 1990 I had my tonsils removed. There were no complications. But this changed my life completely. Until then I was getting the flu five or six times a year for two weeks each. Now I hardly got the flu at all. Maybe twice a year, and it never lasted more than a day. I didn't go to the doctor or take medication, I just spent one day in bed and I was healthy again. I used to joke about my one-day-flus. That lasted for more than 20 years. I'd never been so healthy.

The last few years I've had a flu twice that lasted for three days. That might not seem bad, but for me it was awful. Still, three days in bed was bearable.

Now I've had my first real flu since 1990. It's been dragging on for almost three weeks. I kept thinking it was getting better, but after a good day I relapsed again. The last four days have been the worst. I've even decided to take flu medicine, which I haven't done for 28 years. It's awful.

I haven't watched any films at home for the last six days, but I've listened to this song by Karen Mantler. More than once. You can find it on YouTube, but her music is brilliant, so I advise you buy this CD, the second CD in the Arnold Trilogy.

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