I’m pretty well prepared, but have realized that if both I and hubby get sick at the same time, or if he is away (considered essential personnel), that most of my preps are in the basement and I may be too weak to go down and get them. So, I am putting together a “kit” to store in the bedroom that will have what I need to get me through the worst of the illness, until I’m strong enough to get up and get around anyway. The bathroom is only about 10 steps from the bed so hopefully I’d be able to make it there, but if not want to plan for that also. I’ve only had any flu once in my life (that was PLENTY, thank you!) and all I remember about it is that I had a high fever, that even my hair hurt, and that I was weak as a kitten. Any ideas or suggestions on this would be appreciated.
Food - jars of baby food, Ensure
Water - bottled drinking water
Medicine - acetominiphen(sp?), ibuprofen, Vick’s Vaporub, guaifenisen(sp?), disposable thermometers, Pepto-Bismol, oral rehydration salts, cough suppressant, rubbing alcohol, pencil & paper (for making notes to self on dosage quantities & times)
Hygiene - couple rolls toilet paper, cottonelle wipes, bedpan, plastic sheets (cheap shower curtains), toothbrush, hydrogen peroxide, trash bags, several smaller buckets with lids
Any flu only ONCE? Wow, good for you! I wonder how you managed that. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this, too, this “flu box”. Once I have all the items, I plan on making three boxes, one for each member of my family. Actually, they’ll be buckets that all the items will be stored in. I plan on lining the bucket (5 gallon) first with multiple garbage bags, then another smaller bucket inside it. One may be used for tissues and trash, the other as a makeshift bedpan, or just secondary. Many of the items you listed will be in there. The water will take up too much space so that will have to be brought to the room seperately. Lots of it. So, when it happens, what is needed for each person will be ready. I don’t want to spend a lot of time running around trying to find everything when TSHTF.
Here is Lisa the GP’s excellent discussion of what to do when home alone with the flu…
http://www.fluwikie.com/pmwiki.php?n=Consequences.HomeAlone
Hope this helps! ^__^
What about a couple bottles of PediaLyte/generic grocery store equivalent in that bedroom box and some clean drinking straws (if you’re sick you won’t want to have to get up and make up oral rehydration therapy for yourself and the straws will make it easier to drink by yourself)?
Another thing to consider is if you have children. Make sure if you are sick that they have stuff that they can easily prepare for themselves. My kids are 13,9,5 and the oldest can cook very well, but there is others people that have infant children that they need to think seriously about how to take care of. There is a lot of single parents out their that need to think about possibly having someone that can help them if they get sick and can’t take care of their children. Make up list of special needs each child needs. Just a suggestion.
If you don’t want to move towards the toilet, then have a toilet near you.
… google for “humanure” … here it is, complete with instructions: http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/sawdustoilet.html
If you are sick with regular influenza, then agreed above, but if you fear that you have the bird flu, you should isolate yourself from your hubby and also prevent contaminating the whole house so he has a place to stay when he gets back to help take care of you.
There’s also a great flu wiki article on creating a sick room
You might want to set this up with all the preps you stated above so that at the first sign of sickness, you can isolate yourself. I didn’t think of the baby food, so I am going to add that to my prep list. Thanks. I would add preps for a power outage, and a watch or battery clock so that you can write down your vitals, intake, and fluid loss in your medical log if power is out.
Satago at 08:39, yes, got the flu only once (knock on wood, and thank goodness!) I’m pretty religious about getting a flu vaccine every year. I’ve had other “stomach flu” type stuff over the years that wasn’t the real flu, they’re bad enough, but I distinctly remember influenza… horrible stuff.
anonymous at 11:37, I have probably 1,000 packets or more of oral rehydration salts left over from when we owned our camping store, so don’t think I’ll be needing pedialyte or gatorade (YUK, I can’t believe that anyone could actually drink gatorade), but the straws are a great idea. I’ll just dump a pkt of ORS into the bottled water, shake and drink. I have used ORS when sick before with “stomach flu”, it works well and actually helps to settle your stomach, just keep sipping away.
Rock, thanks for reminding me to move the battery-operated clock into the bedroom. I always keep a flashlight by the bed and extra batteries for it in the nighstand.
I know something I forgot, plastic throwaway spoons for the baby food! Wouldn’t be much fun trying to lap it out of the jar. And a jar opener, just in case I’m so weak that I can’t get the jar open (have arthritis in hands anyway). Also, am gonna put a container of dog food and suitable dog food & water bowls near the bed, so I can still feed & water the dog (he wouldn’t be able to go outside to potty, unfortunately, if I were confined to bed, but guess I’d just have to deal with it when I got well enough to move. Oh well, yet another incentive to get well quickly).
Good idea. Don’t forget the Kleenex, unless you’re planning to substitute the toilet paper for it.
Dosing cups/spoons for liquid meds (might also want to consider liquid ibuprofen, etc, in case the pills are hard to swallow)
Extra blankets/pillows/sheets/towels/washcloths (to wet for forehead)
Dishpan in which to toss items that can be bleached later, if desired
Headphones/CD player or iPod/music/extra batteries….remote control to tv if you have one in the room/’mindless’ magazines or books for when you are feeling a little bit better and restless but still not ready to leave room
Phone/list of important phone numbers
Lollipops/hard candy (to get taste out of mouth & help dry mouth)
Saltines, boxed chicken broth (pourable kind), bendable straws
Cough drops
Masks (to keep from breathing on others who may have to enter the room)
Can of Lysol/antibacterial wipes
Paper towels for messes
bump
This was one of the first things I did after I started reading here a fluwiki. Don’t know why, but there it is. One of the items I added for my kids was a box of those little jello desserts. Already made up jello, easy to open and the exp. date is about 2 years. I also included some 8oz cans of Sprite.
A coffee maker in the bedroom could be used to make hot water for instant soups.
Dr. Woodson recommends Benedryl in your flu med kit, but never says what its for. Anybody know?
Benadryl is an antihistimine which is very effective for allergies but also is an effective sleep aid. Make sure to get plain Benadry without Tylenol.
If toilet facilities will be improvised ie bedpans, remember that they likely will be highly infectious.
Ginger ale or ginger tea are the gold standards for upset tummies. Get a 5 day cooler for the bedroom to keep sodas cold.
I checked Canada Dry, Shweeps and WalMart store brand ginger ale. Guess what, they don’t contain real ginger.
They don’t contain real Ale, either! What a rip off….
No Ale? Now I AM depressed!
I believe peptobismal contains aspirin (or is it Tylenol?) — anyway, you might want to read the ingredients before you take it along with other pain relievers. One of our guys had pneumonia this spring and it was cough syrup with codeine that gave him a chance to quit coughing and get some sleep.
For a bout of any kind of flu, I think I’d be inclined to include more than a couple of rolls of TP! Maybe a 12 pack of double rolls. Some Kleenex with lotion might be helpful - when you have the flu, even the touch of a tissue to the nose can be painful.
Olymom – at 19:46
Pepto Bismol active ingredient = Bismuth subsalicylate (chemically related to aspirin and P&G does caution against giving it to children)
Inactive ingredients = adipic acid, calcium carbonate, flavor, magnesium stearate, mannitol, povidone, red 27 aluminum lake, red 40 aluminum lake, saccharin sodium, talc.
IMO, codeine is the best cough suppressant around.
Kim – at 08:09
Pack it all up in a 5 gallon bucket and get a “luggable loo” toilet seat for the top. That will make trips to the bathroom unneccessary and it will be more sanitary than a bedpan.
A clock that also has the date if you plan to self medicate. If you have very severe flu you may be “out of it” for a day or more and not even know it.
A clock that also has the date if you plan to self medicate. If you have very severe flu you may be “out of it” for a day or more and not even know it.
Kim~~
I like you have only gotten the flu once….and like you my hair hurt!!! I couldnt move and had a hard time even getting to the bathroom….What I remember about it was that I couldnt of made with without Thera-Flu….I also had a bottle of Advil and Tylenol by the bed….I dont remember eating anything…and if I did I’m sure it was precious little. I wasnt sick to my stomach…instead had strep throat on top of it all. I know that they say that if you have a fever not to take hot baths….stay uncovered and all that but…my body hurt soooo bad that I actually had to sleep with a heating pad….it was the only thing that really helped….my dh would check on me and remove it when he knew I was sleeping though:(Houston 6-PackGood? hubby!!!
All of these posts would be very handy if one had a normal flu.
Please reread this week’s AP interview with the Karo bird flu survivor, Ginting. Those with symptoms of bird flu comparable to Ginting’s will not be able to care for themselves.
Here’s a link to that interview - very sobering.
Does anyone know of any other links to descriptions of symptoms of H5N1 flu ? Not so much medical descriptions but more in layman’s terms (such as this article?)
stilearning - I agree with your 21:36 post. Many of us either live alone or are the only adult, thus caregiver, in our household. Gintings experience reinforces the need to sip. Many of us will have no-one to care for us if we get sick. Therefore, our only option is to not get sick. I hope that is possible…
Does anyone else wonder what the witch doctor gave Jones Ginting? He is the only one that survived.
For symptom summary see CIDRAP Avian Influenza Implications for HumanDisease page under Clinical Presentation. They list percentatages of these symptoms per outbreak but here is a summary.
Clinical Presentation (symptoms) Fever (>38:C), Headache, Myalgia, Diarrhea, Abdominal pain, Vomiting, Cough, Sputum, Sore Throat, Rhinorrhea, Shortness of Breath, Pulmonary infiltrates, Lymphopenia, Thrombocytopenia, Increased aminotransferase levels, Development of respiratory failure (usually with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), High levels of inflammatory mediators may contribute to ARDS and multiorgan failure.
Yes, Lisa, I also believe that for many of us, our survival will depend on our thorough SIP preparations…including our ability to defend our SIP. May the force be with you now.
Identification Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) Assessment – Screening Tool
ILI is determined by the presence of 1, 2 and 3 and any of 4., a–f, which could be due to influenza virus:
___ 1. Acute onset of respiratory illness ___ 2. Fever (>38 C or 101 F)* ___ 3. Cough ___ 4. One or more of the following: ___ a. sore throat ___ b. joint aches ___ c. muscle aches ___ d. diarrhea** ___ e. vomiting** ___ f. abdominal pain*
Some folks on here were lamenting about ginger ale that has no ginger. If you want real ginger ale you should try Blenheim Ginger Ale. It’s not for the faint-hearted though:
You know, I don’t think whoever posted the original comment about ginger ale actually meant that it had to be an authentic ale with ginger — I think they just meant something off the store shelves — something with some carbination in it to settle your stomach. Right?
and what happened with the link up above? It’s a dud now. Anyone know of the updated link?
Just wanted to add that although the ingredients on the above site don’t specifically mention real ginger (just natural flavoring), an article here says it contains real Jamaican ginger root.
This stuff is too spicy for me, but old timers swear it cures whatever ‘ales’ you. :-)
I”m working on it @ 21:28 I think they did mean for the ginger, not the carbonation… somewhere on here it’s been pointed out that ginger helps calm an upset stomach…
as far as carbonation, my doctor always recommended letting pop (soda) sit out and defizz before giving to the kids when they had the stomach flu so the gas didn’t make them burp/throwup I’m stocking old-fashioned ginger candy drops as my “ginger source.
I’m sure people will disagree with this, but whenever my gf or I get the flu and/or stomach viruses, flat ginger ale and vanilla wafer cookies seem to help. We both grew up with thinking saltines were best, but they often made both of us vomit. For me personally, the salty taste did it. I switched over to trying fresh vanilla wafers, like the ones used to make southern banana pudding, and they worked great! They didn’t make either of us nauseous and gave us the energy boost needed. They suprisingly don’t seem to conflict with the flat ginger ale taste either. Kids may like them a lot more than salty crackers too. They don’t seem so dry as the crackers (even though they are) and make your mouth salivate more to break down the sugars.
Other cookies don’t seem to work, just these nice plain ones. Possibly short bread or another plain-style cookie might be tolerated well too.
For the nausea; I have always kept fresh ginger root in the house. And you can grow it in a flower pot inside.
I peel & grate the ginger root, mince it ( or shred it ) add about a quart of water, simmer for 2 hours, strain the root out. Need to add sugar to this; and do the taste test. Ginger is a hot spice; but just a few tablespoons will get rid of nausea; from pregnancy, flu & post-operative , too !
I have made and canned several quarts of this, just in case.
Madamspinner - For this very purpose I ordered ground ginger from “Frontier” and have made my own capsules. I’m hoping this will work in a similar way. What do you think? ginger is good for many, many things.
no more a “chicken in every pot” but,
“An emergency box by every bed”
I keep baby “arrowroot” cookies as an alternative to saltines. I’ve stocked up on lemon/ginger tea and ginger ale as well. I also keep ginger on hand and make a sweet ginger hot drink. As well I keep candied ginger on hand for a treat or for those resisting other attempts. I find peppermint tea settles the stomach for some.
feather pillow – at 17:11 “ For this very purpose I ordered ground ginger & have made my own capsules. I’m hoping this will work in a similar way. What do you think?”
Feather— I know in cooking the dry,ground ginger isn’t interchangable with the fresh root; but in a pinch, it might work. I’ve even taken my ginger concoction to the hospital when I was having surgery; because I’d wake up in recovery, tossing up my toenails (hard) ---- the recovery room nurses had it in there, to give me spoonfuls of it…and were amazed that it worked ! When their drugs didn’t ! I’ve also seen it work for morning sickness….and the flu, too. So it’s my standby, both in the freezer ( in frozen ginger tea “cubes” and in canning jars.
You can plant about a 2–3 inch knob of the root in an 8 to 10 inch pot, indoors, and it takes about 8 months to grow it’s cycle. And it’s a beautiful TALL plant !
There are some good ginger teas out there that helped me with morning sickness. Carbonation from ginger ale can make your stomch feel worse - belch!
:auraB, didn’t we learn that ginger ale doesn’t even have any ginger in it? Was that on a thread here somewhere? So, Madamspinner, if you put ground ginger in a capsule, how do you know how many to take? And for that matter how much of a real root at one time — can you just swallow some of the root — or do you have to make “root water” and can it?