Lyrics: “Influenza Blues” Essie Ray Jenkins 1919
I have never ever been so fucking sick in my entire life. And from the feedback I’m getting and what I’m reading online its not just me and this strain of flu hasn’t even reached it’s peak.
The “super flu” virus going around, called subclade K, is a mutated version of one of the subtypes of flu A, which makes it harsher for older adults.
AI by TT. Yup this was me for the first 3 days. I was vomiting violently all day and all night although I had not eaten in 4 days. More details at the end of this post.
According to the most recent data collected for flu season 2025-26, there have been 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths from flu in the U.S. Of the subtypes tested, 94% were type A (which included subclade K), while about 6% were flu B.
Flu A is known to cause more severe illness and has been known to cause pandemics, including the 1918 flu pandemic that led to at least 50 million deaths worldwide.
My dear friend Linda Wines from upstate Michigan shipped a box of this to me and its seriously helped.
Dude I had that shit like a week ago feel better brother
Get better by Friday brother!!! I need some AZ in my life!
Avoid those Cicero street hookers , is that still a thing ?
They say it’s the worst flu ever, but I thought an exaggeration. Do you need some flu medicine sent over?
The worst we had, the longest 2 weeks plus flu-Chinese meds, theraflu, liquid fire tonic, organic ginger and turmeric, Sudafed-nearly done with it I guess-mask up as needed-
Hope you are feeling better soon, Alex. The crap going around is awful. Sending get well hugs 
It is time to start thinking about wearing a mask again. I know I will start wearing one. But then again, I don’t go out anymore. No concerts, store’s or restaurants. Fuck that shit, I don’t like being sick.
Three weeks later and my sinuses are still stuffed
Get well soon , heard its really bad this year.
Sucks man – my daughter went through that last week
I upped d3 to 10000 a day by thxgiving and haven’t caught anything yet. I’m at hospital every day , everyone’s sick. Heal on
This is one of many reasons I avoid people.
Drink lots of water. Vitamin C, Zinc, Turmeric.
It’s probably too late at this point, but try and have oregano oil on hand if you ever start feeling sick in the future. It will wipe out anything.
Arghhh that sucks. Get well soon
Three more days then the flu will leave my soul and bones…chicken noodle soup with ginger, turmeric, garlic, onion, bok toy, black pepper….plus liquid honey fire…vitamins and supplements….
It’s killed 17 people in Indiana.. go to the hospital if you need to
dont mess around with it bro, go see a DOC, get better bro
I had it the last week of December and I still have a lingering cough that came on after I was better. The full body aches were the worst!
we just got over it too…most gnarly illness I’ve EVER had! Glad you are doing better bro..and thank you so much for the Christmas card! Sorry I haven’t been in touch…this flu shit got the best of me. I’ve been hospitalized for sickness before and it wasn’t as rough as this shit…I swear “they” are trying to kill us all
…Half joking, half not.
Sunday: a few friends were worried about me having tried to call and text and got no replies. That was due to my phone issues with it not being able to charge and the reason I was not on social media was because I was too fucking sick to get out of bed. Melita got me thru my email and wanted to set up a Google chat but I was too sick but I know I had to go and get my phone fixed. I assumed it was the battery. A few years ago you could take off the back of your phone and buy a replacement. Those days are long gone such as new cars not having spare tires. Who knew of such a thing.
Monday: I had no choice but to drag myself out of bed wash up and then get on a bus to take me to my bank at 9 AM and then to the place I bought my phone. Even getting down the stairs was difficult. I was dizzy and my whole body hurt and I was shaking. It was bad. I was barely able to get onto the bus and getting off the bus proved to be even more difficult. It was hard not to vomit in the cold morning air. It was hard not to vomit at the bank.
After the bank I stumbled 1/2 a block to the cell phone store and pulled on the door. DAMN. It doesn’t open till 10 AM. There was no place to sit. I was in bad shape. Finally they opened and the manager told me that they don’t replace batteries and tried to sell me a new phone. The big issue is although this is the location where I purchased my phone I had changed provider last April. He also told me that they do not replace batteries at all. I was about to leave and he did a little more inspection. Turns out it wasn’t the battery after all . It was the charger at home that was fried. He tried over and over to sell me on a new plan and that was just impossible. So he sold me a changer instead. That’s all it was.
As I exited the store a bus passed by. The stop is actually directly in front of the store. Of course, Murphy’s Law at the worst possible time of my life. I walked south on Sheridan to the next stop and waited. 15 minutes seemed like 50 minutes and it was cold which probably didn’t help my condition. Finally I literally pulled myself onto the bus and could barely sit as I was so dizzy I fell onto the handicap seat. All I wanted to do was get home and go to bed. But at my last stop I walked into Walgreens and purchased cold and flu medicine and all of the Electrolytes Drinks I could carry.
I was lucky that when I got to my front door one of my neighbors was behind me. I asked him if he could please unlock the front door for me. He is kind so of course he did. Getting up 3 flights was extremely difficult. I was wobbling and holding onto the walls. I was completely soaked in sweat. I got into my door threw off my clothes, paid a few bills online, called Melita and collapsed.
I did not sleep at all Monday night. In fact I did nothing Monday through Thursday but toss and turn, drink water go to the bathroom but went nights with no sleep
Tuesday: I was vomiting violently all night and day. I walked half a block to Walgreens and back for more Electrolytes Drinks, all I could carry. No change as it was a struggle and although it was only a 1/2 block a 4 minute walk at best I was once again soaked in sweat. I walked into my door, up the stairs, pulled off my clothes and dropped into bed were I remained till the next day..
Wednesday: No change. No sleep and no appetite. I tried to force myself to eat. I could not. I was vomiting all day long. I tried sitting in the living room to watch TV just to get out of my bedroom which was now w total wreck. Completely out of character for me.
Linda Wines offered to overnight some medicine to me that she says works for her every time. I didn’t bother to ask what it was but told her it might be a good idea. She’s a really really good friend. Anything that would help. I knew I could trust her.
Thursday: I hadn’t vomited since around 9 PM. Around 630 PM a big box of Theraflu arrived. She told me to take it every 4 hours. Since once again went another sleepless night it was no problem. I dozed off for about 2 hours around 430 AM.
Friday: I woke and felt much better. Not 100% but much better and as the day progressed was getting my appetite back. I had a free sandwich coming from Jimmy Johns that I earned for my birthday on 12/12 that I hadn’t used which would expire 1/11 so I ordered the thing. DAMN it was good and I was getting my energy back although I was still basically sleepless. I was able to clean house a little which made me happy. I also took the trash out the back stairs. Then I ate all day long. I could not stop eating. I’m sure I gained back the 7 lbs I lost over the week. I got barely 3 hours of sleep at best.
Saturday: Almost 100%. I updated this website talked to a friend and watched TV. I drank coffee finally and still drank lots of water. Had Ramen noodles. TT made some AI images (very scary) of how I told him that I felt. I had energy although I hadn’t slept. I also texted Melita who is in NYC taking the NextGen Bar Exam. I’m hoping that by tomorrow I will have had some sleep and will be at 100%.
Sunday: I was up really late watching a very disturbing film EDDINGTON followed by season 2 episode 9 of LANDMAN and somehow managed to sleep. I woke up because I was woken up so I made coffee and stared the final season of MAD MEN.
In all I feel 100% health wise. I have a pretty busy day with calls to William Zimmerman and Peter Guellard and hopefully will sauté some beautiful mushrooms later. It’s back to business and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Meanwhile in NYC Melita is taking the NextGen Bar Exam
Well you oughtta see her, wearin’ her heart on her sleeves
You’d never believe her, she’s got a well-planned look in her eyes
She’s so European, she’s one of a kind, one of a kind
She’s so European, she’s one of a kind, all in her mind
And she’s so European, I found out today
